One ‘ALT-IMATE’ Night with Live & Bush In Tampa
By Jordan Raiff on August 18, 2019Our Lady Peace, Live, Bush 16AUG19 MidFL Credit Union Amphitheatre
25 years ago, Nancy Kerrigan was kneecapped by Shane Stant, OJ led police on the most infamous LA car chase ever, Woodstock celebrated its 25th anniversary, Oasis released their debut album, and (may he rest in peace) Kurt Cobainwas found dead in his Seattle home. Oh, and two of the biggest alternative rock albums to date Throwing Copper, and Sixteen Stone were released. Both bands found themselves enjoying no.1 singles, and massive critical success. It would only be fitting that they go out on tour together to commemorate such a historic milestone. Warming up for them is Our Lady Peace.
Before jumping into Our Lady Peace, I want to apologize to any of their fans reading this. Tampa traffic got the better of me with the rain, so I missed our photo opportunity. My most sincere of apologies.
Lead vocalist (and aptly named) Raine Maida even made a point to thank the audience for being early with our horrible weather, and that “It’s a good time to be alive!!” to a roar of applause and screams. Performing audience favorite ‘Clumsy’ got everyone in the mood for an alt-style night in just the right way.
Before performing their final song (with a creamy solo to open) Raine asked a favor of the audience; “This is a rock & roll concert!! You have to stand up!!” Seeing so many people getting to their feet and really embracing the vibe was simply stunning. Closing off with a touch of guitar vs drum ‘duel’ was a great way to get the night going. With a 30-minute break until Live, this was well needed, and very well received.
Many bands can say that they have tour relentlessly over the years; not many can say decades. These years of practice gives Live the instincts to know what the fans deserve on such a momentous tour. With large LED screens behind the band, the cover art from Throwing Copper steadily spread across as the band made their entrance to the stage to a standing ovation with a roar that sounded more like overhead thunder than anything. To put it simply; deafening.
Opening with ‘All Over You’ lead singer Ed Kowalczyk had an already packed house full of backup singers. They were on time, (mostly) on que, and ready to rock. With original bassist Patrick Dahlheimer, guitarist Chad Taylor, drummer Chad Gracey, and touring musicians Clint Simmons on drums, and Zak Loy on guitar and mandolin, Live was not only firing on all cylinders, but they were going full force.
Bringing out the hands for ‘Selling the Drama’, the band was exploring the stage more, and smiling as they played. It’s always great to see a band enjoying themselves, but that they were glad to be back in Florida. Ed even ensured he mentioned it to everyone; naturally getting tons of screams back.
Paying homage to REM they covered ‘Losing My Religion’ for their third song. Looking up on stage I could see the smile initially plastered on Zak’s face as the fans screamed to the opening notes. While he quickly let that smile fade back as to not get lost in the moment, the band played on, and they played it beautifully.
Introducing ‘Shit Towne’ to the fans with an explanation of why he dislikes where he came from, Ed gave this classic track new life. With photos of this town in the background, he joined in on guitar duties for some of the solo work.
Going through ‘Heaven’ and dedicating it to the moms and daughters in the audience, he followed it up with another track asking everyone to turn on their cellphone flashlight ‘do it good for all that Instagram shit!!’ Needless to say, the amp lit up like a Christmas tree.
As the audience continued their sing along the band exchanged glances and you can really sense how much they enjoy playing together. This level of enjoyment is not something every band gets to experience, and they certainly seem fortunate to be able to be playing together now. Closing with ‘Lightning Crashes’ Live really hit up anything a fan could ask for, and at a high level.
Going in and out of the pit all night, the band ended with a bow as a group, they reminded everyone to be true to themselves, and tossed out guitar picks to the people up front. Their energy was truly infectious, and this seemingly simple act to end the set really resonated with the fans.
After a rather short break (15 minutes)the lights dropped to white swirls on the LED boards. As the crowd roared, the single rhythmic thumps of a drum from Robin Goodridge’s kit began as the rest of the band entered the stage. Now for Bush tonight was a unique part of the tour; it was being filmed for a special. This meant the lights seemed a touch brighter, and the sound was cranked a bit louder. Nobody seemed to mind; rather they relished it.
Opening with ‘Machinehead’ as is the usual, this got everyone on their feet and pressed against the barricade. I’ve seen Gavin Rossdale perform before, but never with the intensity that he took the stage over tonight.
Railing on his Fender Jazzmaster, it made for a great ‘yin and yang’ to the soulful riffs from Chris Traynor’s Gibson SG. Bassist Corey Britz links the bridge between these two and Robin in a natural manner. Something magical and pure existed tonight between these four.
Getting on to ‘This Is War’ the people singing back and forth with Gavin was the loudest it had been all night. This gave the band more energy and goddamn did they push it right back out. This level of ‘war’ between them with energy was deep and ongoing.
Crossing back and forth across the stage, they riffed through ‘Everything Zen’. Grinding his guitar against the speaker cabinet in the back, Gavin was channeling bits of his inner Hendrix. Even taking the guitar back and playing from his knees. While many guitarists will try these moves at the end of a show, most won’t go back and finish the song with the guitar they just tortured. It was a beautiful sight to see.
‘The Chemicals Between Us’ is a song that is best played quickly and loudly. That’s not to say they rushed anything, but they brought it to the people with authority. While most people know the song from the TV show Charmed, it had immense success as a single. It was also the second biggest sing along of the night.
One of the best touches throughout the seton stage came from the slide neck playing from Chris. Not many people play whole songs with a glass slide and fingers, but he did. This balance is incredibly difficult to pull off, especially with the neck Gibson uses on their SG lines.
Not to be outdone, Gavin chose to not only get off the stage but go through the crowd all the way to the back and around the back part of the amp. The spotlight and camera seemed to lose him in the maylay numerous times as the rest of the band played on. During this point it was similar to a jam session as the extension of ‘Little Things’ was drug out but in one hell of a great way.
As Gavin suggested during the set, tonight we had something special here. ‘We think
it’s a solution; music is everything.’ He could not be more correct. Songs like ‘The Sound of
Winter’, ‘Bullet Holes’, and ‘Glycerine’ really rounded out the set and made the solution nearly complete.
The tour continues on in Florida stopping in Miami on the 17 th , and Jacksonville on the
18 th . They will be out through September 8th where the tour comes to an end in Rochester
Michigan. With $30-40 t-shirts, low ticket prices, and a truly entertaining setlist, this is not a
show to miss as this summer starts to wind down.
Tags: Bush, Chad Gracey, Chad Taylor, Chris Traynor, Ed Kowalczyk, Gavin Rossdale, Jordan Raiff, Patrick Dahlheimer, Robin Goodridge
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