The evening started with a light drizzle, also referred to as “LA rainstorm” and the bad news that Jerry Cantrell wouldn’t open for Bush at the Hollywood Palladium as planned. Snow kept Alice In Chains’ guitarist stuck in Reno, NV.

Fortunately, Starcrawler had recently made a surprise announcement that they would join Bush on tour for a few dates and ended up taking on the responsibility to be the sole opener of the night. Their infectious energy made everybody forget about the lineup change, as the band delivered an epic set that surpassed expectations and warmed up the crowd. Arrow de Wilde is nothing short of an incredible performer and the musicians were all great. “Roadkill” is one of my personal favorites and the live rendition blew everyone’s minds. Henri (guitar) went on to play on the barricades, close to the audience and pulled in Måneskin guitarist Thomas Raggi from the VIP area to climb on stage and join him in a guitar solo. The tone was set and the Palladium was hyped and ready for the night not to end.

At 9:15pm, the lights went out again and Bush took the stage. The band opened with the heavy “Identity” from their new album The Art Of Survival. Only a few songs from the 2022 record had been played live until this year and the fans were glad to hear more of it. The sound was impeccable which allowed each musician to showcase their skills. In-between songs Gavin Rossdale mentioned that he was originally from London, but reminded the audience that everything started “here, in Los Angeles”, where they found success with their 1994 classic album Sixteen Stone. And the fans from these days weren’t disappointed as the played their classics throughout the night such as “Everything Zen” or “Glycerine”.

Chris Traynor on the guitar kept walking the stage left and right, while Nik Hughes hit the drums hard, screaming in excitement. Corey Britz (bass) played often on the edge of the stage, close to the audience. Gavin played guitar on some songs and jumped down the stage to finish singing “Blood River” with the crowd. Along with their new record, 2020’s The Kingdom was well represented also in the setlist. Eventually the pace slowed down towards the middle of the show and Gavin stayed alone on stage to play the beautiful “1000 Years”. The rhythm picked back up after that for a few songs. Bush is an absolutely well-oiled machine and is a great act to see live. When the show ended and everyone asked for more, the band came back with a 3 songs encore and “Comedown” closed the show which was livestreamed on Veeps.

The band delivered a transcending and exhilarating performance. Everyone left the venue so satisfied that the LA rainstorm felt more like a drizzle after all.

SETLIST:

Identity / Machinehead / Blood River / The Chemicals Between Us / Bullet Holes / The Sound Of Winter / Flowers On A Grave / Everything Zen / 1000 Years / Quicksand / Heavy Is The Ocean / More Than Machines / Little Things / The Kingdom / Glycerine / Comedown

BUSH

STARCRAWLER

Photos + Review by Manuel Gay | Exclusively for Music, Why Not!