British rock band BUSH who are famous for their hit songs in the mid-late 1990s made their first post pandemic appearance in Toronto, Canada on February 9th, 2023. This English alternative band that calls London their official home base first saw success in North American way back in 1994 with the release of their smash hit album “Sixteenth Stone”. Since then the group has seen many ups and downs and changes, the most obvious being the band line up which today only contains one original member being the lead singer Gavin Rossdale. When the band reformed in 2010 Gavin tried to get the band back together but was unsuccessful so he instead put a new group together but still using the name Bush. Thankfully, the new incarnation of the band still has the original sound and spirit that the fans remember. With new songs like “Sound of Winter” which shows that the band can still make the kind music the fans expect.
The show was opened by a local rock band that goes by the name of The Standstills. Myself and this band both call the Durham Region in Ontario home which is located just east of Toronto. For those not familiar with The Standstills, they are a three piece rock band that have been playing together for over ten years. They have opened at least once before at the History concert venue when they played with Three Days Grace and The Warning last year. The band who are originally from London, Ontario have been steadily touring since 2022 for their latest project called “Shockwave” which is available now on all major streaming services. The Standstill are scheduled to tour some dates in Europe with American rock band The Eagles of Death Metal next month in July. Be sure to check them out if you are in the area!
Bush has been touring this year for their latest album titled “The Art of Survival” which was released last year in October. The new album drop has spawned three official singles so far including the most recent called “All Things Must Change” which came out last month. With the band now having nine studio albums under their belt with a time span of almost 30 years, this group surely doesn’t have any shortage of material when it comes to touring. With the majority of concert dates happening in the USA, the fans in Toronto felt lucky Bush decided to make it up to Toronto for the rare visit. Personally I have been a fan of the group since the 90s so it was a bit surreal and cool to be in located in the media pit for the first three songs at History and get to see Gavin Rossdale in the flesh – a person I have only ever seen in music videos on TV growing up. It’s amazing to see how energetic and lively Gavin still is after all these years being a middle aged man with significant miles on his boots.
The set list for Bush would open up with the song “Identity” and the classic “Machinehead” which is the most notable and recognizable from this group in my opinion. The first song I head after leaving the press pit was “The Chemicals Between Us” which is from their 1999 album. A few other tracks from the performance were “Little Things” and “Everything Zen” – the latter we happened to record a video clip of which is available below via the Musik Mirage YouTube channel. At one point during the performance, the lead singer Gavin would get off stage and walk out through the crowd while singing much to the crowd’s delight. The show concluded with a three song encore which contained two fan favourites being “Comedown” and “Glycerine”. A few notable songs that were missing from the performance were “Swallowed” and “Warm Machine” but were probably performed during other gigs on the tour.
Please enjoy the video clip below as mentioned earlier and be sure to check the local listings to see when Bush is coming to your area to perform as they are still on tour across America. Also, be sure to follow the band on Instagram for all future updates @bush.
Article & Photos By Kyle McNeil (@trueaspectmedia)
