Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson amused fans in Montreal on 4 September by jokingly "firing" his bandmates during a brief technical delay at their show. After chatting to the crowd about his love for the city, he asked frontman Geddy Lee if he could start the song, and when Lee replied "you're the boss", Lifeson ran with the joke, declaring he would perform the rest of the show alone. The lighthearted exchange underlines the good spirits surrounding the band's long-awaited reunion tour.

The moment came during the Fifty Something Tour, Rush's first run of shows in 11 years, following a hiatus since drummer Neil Peart retired in 2015; Peart died in 2020. Lee has said the decision to tour again was difficult given how "irreplaceable" Peart was, but that it eventually felt right. The tour began on 7 June in Inglewood, California, has since taken in Mexico and North America, with further US dates including Boston, Seattle and Atlanta this year, before continuing into South America and Europe next year and concluding in Finland on 10 April.