Fuck anyone who says rock is dead. With the number of tours coming through loaded with killer bands, rock is far from dead. Tell that to the thousands attending this evenings entertainment. Montreal’s Bell Centre would play host to one of it’s natives with the Canadian quartet Our Lady Peace taking on the honor of headliner on this evening. Supporting them would be two of the 90’s most successful bands; Live and Bush. It would be a night of some kick ass rock and roll!
In a flip from the U.S. touring schedule Bush would take to the stage first. Led by original band member Gavin Rossdale on lead vocals and guitar the London natives would deliver an open set worthy of closing out the night. Leaning heavily on their hits Rossdale would kick things off with a high energy 9 song-setlist of their major hits. With tracks such as the powerful opener “Machinehead,” “Everything Zen,” “Glycerine” and closer “Comedown” Gavin used the stage as his playground as he jumped and swayed across the platform non-stop. If you haven’t seen UK quartet yet I highly recommend them as they put on a great show.
Next up on the bill would be York, PA natives Live. With Ed Kowalczyk back in the fold on lead vocals these boys are killing it. It’s so great to see the original four members re-energized and back on the scene. One upping their predecessors to the stage Live’s 10-song setlist was heavily influenced by their monster album Throwing Copper. Another set worthy of the headlining slot. If the show ended with these two behemoths it would have been well worth the price of admission. But it didn’t.
Closing out the evening, as mentioned, hailing from Toronto was Our Lady Peace. Somewhat under the radar in the states it’s obvious they have a much bigger following in their native country with the crowd staying put to see their headlining set. Having been on the scene for over 25 years this is a band that really shouldn’t be missed. As mentioned they have flown a bit under the radar in the U.S. but shouldn’t have. Just an ultra-talented band with some killer hits. Lead by original vocalist Raine Maida Our Lady Peace would finish up the night with a 13 song setlist including favorites “Superman’s Dead” as the opener book-ended by “Starseed” for the encore. Truly fantastic performance as I’m sure my few thousand friends in attendance would attest to. Once again this is a band not to be missed and if you have yet to explore their catalog I highly recommend it you will not be disappointed.
Be sure to catch one or all of the aforementioned bands on tour. Rock and roll is alive and well my friends!
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Photos and review by RockRevolt photojournalist Brett Tully
