reCAP :: Bush w/ Theory Of A Deadman + Stars In Stereo :: 2015.02.25
Unlike mainstream radio these days, which only seem to play Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift, rock music was in heavy rotation in the mid-1990s courtesy of alt-music and the “grunge” movement. It’s hard to believe it now (given autotune and pop domination), but it wasn’t uncommon (double negative I know) to hear Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and countless others spun right inbetween artists like TLC, Sheryl Crow, and Bon Jovi. Times have changed, but music doesn’t. It’s as timeless as morning cups of coffee and waves crashing.
Bush, a leading force in the aforementioned Fresh Prince of Bel Air decade’s rock scene (their debut Sixteen Stone went six-times platinum!), emblazoned the sentiment of “timelessness” on Wednesday night (Feb. 25) at the Capitol Theatre when they performed 20-year-old songs that sounded just as good now as they did back then.
Actually, they sounded better.
Ageless wonder Gavin Rossdale (he may be a vampire) worked the room all night long (even venturing out into the crowd at one point), performing blockbusters along with new stuff that resonated almost as well. Opening with the stellar “The Sound of Winter” off their 2011 The Sea of Memories, and closing out the show with mega-hit “Come Down,” fans ate up those and the inbetween tracks like pigeons circling crumbs at a park bench. Overall, the band played 20 songs including breakout first single “Everything Zen,” “The Chemicals Between Us,” “Swallowed,” “Little Things,” “Machinehead,” and the Kleenix-inducing “Glycerine.” They also squeezed in a surprising Talking Heads cover (“Once in a Lifetime”) and what this guy (pointing to self) considers their best song – “Letting the Cables Sleep.”
So, it was an evening of nostalgia, fans singing along with each and every lyric, and Rossdale and the band rocking out like it was 1994.
Thankfully, no moshpits broke out.