Photos and review by NOTES FROM VIVACE
– LOS ANGELES – Bush, the alternative rock band of the 1990s, concluded their Loaded Greatest Hits Tour at The Greek Theatre this Sunday night. Was there perhaps a reason why the band made Los Angeles the last stop of their tour?
As the band was about to start playing the final song of their set, “Little Things,” lead singer Gavin Rossdale took to the microphone and talked about how Los Angeles gave them their first break.
“The first time we got a break on the radio . . . it f*cking began here,” he said. ” . . it’s been a f*cking amazing journey. We’re so thrilled to be on this ride with you.”
The song he was talking about was “Everything Zen,” which happened to be the first song that they played on this night. The band was signed by Rob Kahane who then sent the debut album to a friend at KROQ-FM. The rest is history, so they say.
Los Angeles showed their love back to the band. When Drummer Nik Hughes took to the drum kit, that was up above the stage on risers, the crowd roared with approval after every hit of the drums that sent his arms flying high. As soon as the rest of the band went onto the stage, the crowd stood and no one took a seat throughout the night.
They stood as the band entered and then exited the theatre after the final encore “Comedown” without warming those seats. Yeah, it was the Los Angeles crowd version of watching a Duke versus North Carolina basketball game at Cameron Indoor Stadium (with Duke winning the game).
This was the Loaded Greatest Hits Tour and so all the greatest hits were played. The band started straight off with the mentioned “Everything Zen” and then went right into Machinehead and the John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum soundtrack song “Bullet Holes.”
That song title sounds about accurate for a John Wick movie. After playing “The Chemicals Between Us,” Rossdale mentioned how he used to live near the Greek Theatre and thanked all his Los Angeles friends (who just so happened to be on the guest list) for showing up.
Throughout the set, Chris Trayno on guitar was looking country strong. Bassist Corey Britz would look off into the audience while playing through the hits. Both would occasionally walk up the riser’s staircase to make sure that Hughes didn’t feel lonely playing the drums.
There was a moment where Britz walked up and headed over to play just to the side of Hughes. Rossdale decided to join his bassist and drummer. There appeared to be a discussion between Rossdale and Britz that probably involved strategic band member placement, because as soon as the brief conversation ended, Britz casually made his way to stage left while Rossdale headed over to stage right while Trayno stayed down below on the stage – a perfectly executed photo moment.
One has to give it up to the Greek Theatre lights team for the song “Swallow.” Rossdale was bathed in three white beam lights from the stage, but there was also a hint of golden beauty that embraced the singer.
As for Rossdale, he must keep himself in top notch shape. He danced, jumped, skipped across the stage all night long and then for “Flowers On A Grave” he took a run up the Greek Theatre stairs.
He didn’t stop at Section A. He didn’t stop at Section B. He went all the way to the nosebleed Section C where the fans in the section pressed around him. He took a place atop one of the chairs with one fan behind him holding his back while another in front lent him his left arm until he could gain his balance.
Did all that running and leaping and climbing finally show signs of impacting Rossdale? Potentially, for the encore of their biggest hit “Glycerine.” Rossdale stood on stage alone. Around 10 seconds into the song, he stopped and mentioned that he was just going to restart the song. The final song of the night was “Comedown.” Jerry Cantrell joined the band and Rossdale turned to the crowd and acted as a choir director, leading the crowd as they sang “‘Cause I don’t wanna come back down from this cloud. It’s taken me all this time to find out what I need again.”
Opening up for Bush were Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains, Candlebox, and Bones UK.
Check out the separate review + photos of Bones UK here at US Rocker.
Cantrell entered the stage with his flowing hair, “Welcome to the rock show.” His vocals were very purposeful. A few songs into the set, he mentioned that he has a new album coming out titled I Want Blood. He then went into the first single off that album called “Vilified.” It’s a heavy metal gem that received loud cheers from the crowd. His song “Cut You In” also got the crowd stamp of approval. “We love you, Jerry,” was heard from the crowd. Cantrell was ready for that one with a joke, “I had a whole comedy bit to go with that.” A Jerry Seinfeld fan? Throughout the set, Alice in Chains songs were played and he ended the set with one, “Rooster.” The crowd had their smartphone cameras recording that moment.
Opening up the evening after Bones UK was Bush contemporaries Candlebox. The band caught their break in 1993, about a year before Bush got their break. Lead singer Kevin Martin made reference to that music break, “1993, it was a good year. I was a lot younger than.” The band dedicated their song “10,000 Horses” to their sound guy who has worked with the band for 17 years.
For the song “Cover Me,” Martin asked his assumed rhetorical question, “Are there any Christians in the house? Of course not, this is Los Angeles.” The song is about his conversation with the “man upstairs.” There were a few cheers for that question, though, so one would have to say there were more than 10 righteous people in the crowd.
The band ended the night with their two most popular hits “Far Behind” and “You.” “Far Behind” is a song about a friend who died. The crowd responded by singing the chorus. “You” also had the crowd going and the lights team reacted by shining the lights onto the crowd at just the right moments.
Overheard from someone leaving the Greek Theatre, ”Bush, now that’s a rock band.”
Bush setlist: Everything Zen, Marchinehead, Bullet Holes, The Chemicals Between Us, The Kingdom, The Sound Of Winter, Greedy Fly, All Things Must Change, Swallowed, Heavy Is The Ocean, Flowers On A Grave, Little Things. Encore: More Than Machines, Come Together (The Beatles cover), Glycerine, Comedown.
Jerry Cantrell setlist: Psychotic Break, Them Bones (Alice in Chains song), Atone, Vilified, Had to Know, Man in the Box (Alice in Chains song), Afterglow, Cut You In, Would? (Alice in Chains song), Brighten, Rooster (Alice in Chains song).
Candlebox setlist: Arrow, Happy Pills, Elegante, Don’t You, Change, 10,000 Horses, Cover Me, Far Behind, You.
Listen to Bush here:
