BUSH DO THE LITTLE THINGS TO DELIVER BIG ROCK SHOW IN BOSTON

The Boston House of Blues became the House of Rock August 11, 2017, as Beantown welcomed the Brits of Bush. It’s the little things the quartet does that makes for a big rock show.

Originally going by the name Future Primitive, Bush officially formed in 1992 after lead singer/guitarist Gavin Rossdale met guitarist Nigel Pulsford. Rounding out the foursome was bassist Dave Parsons and drummer Robin Goodridge. Amazingly their debut album, Sixteen Stone was initially deemed unacceptable for release forcing the band to take on menial day jobs. Finally, Interscope Records took a shot and released the album that would go on to score a number of hits including “Everything Zen”, “Little Things”, “Machine Head”, “Glycerine” and “Comedown” and go on to sell more than six million copies.

After a decade, the band would go on hiatus only to return in 2010. Pulsford and Parsons would depart with Chris Traynor taking over lead guitar responsibilities and Corey Britz on bass. Armed with seven studio albums and sales in excess of ten million records, Bush seem poised for the long haul as they would prove to a packed House of Blues on a warm summer evening.

With a basic layout consisting of a couple mic stands, amps, drums on a riser and a large video screen backdrop, Rossdale and company took to the stage. Opening with one of their megahits, “Everything Zen” the crowd of over 2,000 was immediately engaged. Nothing like starting a show with one of your biggest hits to light the audience on fire.

Not much for words, Gavin has a certain aura on stage that gives you the sense he’s really into it. He would approach the mic with a mannerism reminiscent of Eddie Vedder at times, almost hypnotic. Then, as if overtaken by the music, he would bounce as he swayed back and forth across the stage.

Not relying solely upon their past, Bush would perform several songs off their 2017 release, Black and White Rainbows. But it was the hits that defined them from Sixteen Stone, that garnered the loudest response from the New Englanders.

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TAKE THE DAY Lament Heartbreak with “Song For The Broken”

As they closed out the main portion of their set with “Little Things,” Gavin Rossdale gave fans something very few stars of his stature do, face to face interaction with the crowd. Performing an extended version of the 1994 hit, Rossdale would make his way through the crowd reaching the upper levels of the balcony, then down to the general admission floor right in the mix of the crowd giving the concert goers something to remember. Those are the actions that make a show memorable as fans took selfies with the frontman, gave hugs, shook hands and a few high fives. Come to think of it this is something that Gavin has been doing since I can remember with one of my first live Bush experiences coming at Woodstock ’99, where he jumped into the crowd of nearly 300,000! It’s good to see he hasn’t lost that passion.

After a very short break, Goodridge, Britz, Traynor, and Rossdale would return to the stage for a four-song encore that included a cover of R.E.M.’s “The One I Love”. Closing out the 17-song, hour and forty-five minute setlist was Sixteen Stone’s “Comedown”. After two and a half decades, Bush still sound as tight and fresh as ever. Whether playing to a crowd of two-thousand, twenty-thousand or two hundred-thousand they deliver a high-energy, passionate rock show. Well worth the price of admission and with ticket prices being what they are today that’s saying a lot. Check out Bush on tour now, and pick up a copy of their latest release Black and White Rainbows; you will not be disappointed.

House of Blues Boston setlist: