[Review] Bush Brings Down The House At Sold-Out Saint Rocke Reunion Show

A small yet devoted pack of 200-300 + Bushheads crammed into the intimate, gothic-themed club, Saint Rocke, in Hermosa Beach last Friday night, July 22^nd, for the band Bush’s sold-out reunion showcase.

The hot, sweaty energy-packed slugfest, hosted by yours truly, KROQ, was in anticipation of the release of Bush’s first studio album in a decade, Sea Of Memories, (out Sept. 13.) The set was a lengthy, well thought out mix of new music, unexpected covers, and 90s rock favorites – just like we like it.

Highlights? Gavin jumped onto and prowled the bar Coyote Ugly-style and did a lighter-worthy sing-along encore including a cover of The Beatles’ “Cover Me.”

[Photo Gallery] Bush At Saint Rocke,… Even before the band bounded onstage, the excitement to see the multi-platinum band at such a small place was palpable. Saint Rocke, which has a capacity of only ~230 people, was packed to the brim; if people could have been hanging off the walls – they would have.

The band took to the stage quite a bit after his expected show time of 9:30. The cue was when an assistant brought out a pint of Stella in a special iced container; we knew Gavin was close by. (Gavin explained on KROQ that one of the reasons he likes to play at Saint Rock is because they have Stella on tap.)

Though many haven’t seen or heard much of the multi-platinum band since its heyday in 1990s – save tabloid shots of Rossdale and his rockstar family – it was rather shocking how well Rossdale has retained the rugged rockability and drop-dead grunge allure he had in the 90s. Last night wasn’t just a throwback to “the old Bush days”, it was like a time warp: Gavin’s vocals boasted the same deep, growling tenor and the man raged and riffed onstage like a 20 year old on uppers for over an hour. In fact, he’s perhaps more fit and muscular now at 45 than his early Bush years. (If anything, his agelessness is actually kind of depressing – considering the fans in the joint were clearly not teenagers any more……) Meanwhile while many lament that the original make up of the band has changed, this new assortment – with Chris Traynor on guitar, drummer Robin Goodridge and bassist Corey Britz – proved very musically tight.