I’m going to preface this review with a disclaimer regarding my own personal ambivalence toward the metal genre – I do not understand metal/hardcore music, I don’t emotionally engage with it and nor can I distinguish one artist from the next, as such Staind‘s set (pictured above) didn’t do much for me. This said, Aaron Lewis’ vocals were impressive and technically the band are tight.
Their sound was massive and seemed to delight the fans in the audience who were happily singing along with the band as they confidently strutted their stuff onstage. The personal highlight for me was watching them play “It’s Been Awhile” which is a song I thrashed relentlessly back in 2001 and received the biggest response from the crowd, who gave the band a rapturous round of applause at the end of their performance.
Bush made all of my nineties wet dreams come true with Gavin Rossdale and co. putting on a victorious display of grunge rock that was worthy of a stadium setting. I was 10 when Sixteen Stone was released and it’s still one of my all time favourite records so needless to say I was a little bit excited to finally be able to see Gavin Rossdale in the flesh and fortunately he did deliver with his vocals sounding amazing and his electrifying presence had everybody in the room swooning like a teenage girl, desperate to be close to their idol.
Rossdale played up to the fans confidently swaggering around the stage and leaping into the front row to play down amongst the crowd. He took it one step further during “The Afterlife” by running through all three levels of the Palace Theatre, stopping to serenade a lucky lady on the top tier who looked faint with excitement as the fans lost the plot (myself and best friend included) being in such close proximity to Gavin Rossdale.
Bush were fantastic and put on a very enjoyable show. It was such a happy nostalgic affair to be able to hear “Comedown”, “Everything Zen”, “Little Things”and “Glycerine” – the soundtrack that shaped my teenage years – performed live and their grungy take on The Beatles was a pleasant surprise during the encore. My only complaint about this gig was the fact that Gavin Rossdale kept his shirt on for the entire duration of Bush’s set, everything else was pure bliss.
Set List:
Machinehead
The Chemicals Between Us
All My Life
Everything Zen
Greedy Fly
The Sound Of Winter
The Heart Of The Matter
Swallowed
Baby Come Home
The Afterlife
Little Things
Encore:
Come Together
Glycerine
Come Down
