Moving Pictures (A Tribute to the music of Rush)

Moving Pictures bring their Rush tribute to O2 Academy2 Oxford on Saturday 5 December, one of five dates on their current tour. They're a power trio, just like the Canadian band they're covering, and they've built a reputation as one of Europe's top tributes to them, playing with the precision and energy that made Rush such a beloved band.

This particular show comes at a milestone moment: 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of 2112, the conceptual album that defined so much of Rush's career. To mark it, the band is expected to play the 2112 suite in full, the whole side-long piece from start to finish, rather than just a few highlights. Around that, they'll be pulling songs from every Rush era, so you'll hear the early progressive stuff alongside the tighter, more streamlined sound they moved towards in later years.

If you're not fully across the Rush catalogue, 2112 is the one most people know — the space-opera story about a dystopian future where music is banned. Hearing it played through in one go is a different experience from listening to it on record, and having it sit alongside a set that reaches across the band's whole career gives a decent sense of where they started and where they ended up. It's a long piece of music, so it takes up a good chunk of the night.

Doors open at 18:30 at O2 Academy2 Oxford, 190 Cowley Road, with the show following on. It's part of a five-date tour, so this is one of only a few chances to catch them live this run.