As 2024 comes to an end, Bush ended their celebratory year with a few “holiday” shows, as lead singer Gavin Rossdale would call them, at the Quapaw, Oklahoma show. Bush had just finished their massive 2024 tour celebrating the release of their greatest hits album, Loaded: The Greatest Hits 1994–2023, which also features a cover of The Beatles “Come Together” and new song “Nowhere To Go But Everywhere.”
On top of that, Bush were also celebrating 30 years of their debut album, Sixteen Stone, which came out in November of 1994. In celebrating, a 30th anniversary vinyl was released and New Noise Magazine writer John Moore gave a review of the vinyl release here.
When Sixteen Stone was released in 1994, I was only 7 years old. During this time, my love for music was already on a fast track having become a fan of bands like Green Day, The Offspring, The Beatles, and more. I spent most of my television watching between shows on Nickelodeon and music videos on MTV. During the morning hours, as I got ready for school, my sister and I would watch MTV, and you could bet that Bush’s videos for “Comedown” and “Glycerine” would be played at least twice. These videos are burnt into my mind to the point that I can close my eyes and still envision them scene by scene. Along with the videos, I also have memories of going food shopping with my Mom every Saturday and going through the magazine racks looking through Circus Magazine for live photos of Bush.
As I got older, like many, I noticed that you tend to leave behind some of the bands you used to listen to. However, bands like Bush and Silverchair stayed with me because their music wasn’t to follow the latest grunge trend. Their music was much more than that; it was raw, emotional, and genuine.
Thirty years later, Bush’s music and live performances are still raw, emotional, and genuine. Right out of the gate, they opened with “Everything Zen” and “Machinehead” from Sixteen Stone, and the screams from the crowd almost drowned out Gavin’s vocals. From there they played one song from almost all their album, “Bullet Holes” from The Kingdom, “The Chemicals Between Us” from The Science Of Things, “The Sound Of Winter” from The Sea Of Memories, my personal favorite album by them,and “All Things Must Change” from The Art Of Survival. The energy was nonstop as Gavin bounced around the stage, switching from guitar to just vocals and back to guitar. It wasn’t until the song “Swallowed” that the band slowed down and left leaving Gavin to sing the song solo with such emotion using only his voice and no guitar.
The last song of the set before the encore was “Little Things,” at which point Gavin stated that he wanted to be more connected with everyone. The best way he knew how to do that was by going into the crowd and singing the song while hugging as many fans as he could. For a musician with the status he has, it isn’t unheard of that during a show musicians get close to the crowd, but to get right in the middle of the crowd for a whole song proves that Bush aren’t like other bands. Gavin broke down that wall to fans and made this show have that “hardcore/punk” feel, and for the people in the crowd, this was going to be a memory they wouldn’t forget.
For the encore, Bush closed with “More Than Machines” from The Art Of Survival. Gavin then played “Glycerine” solo, and then the rest of the band came back to play “Comedown.” Opening and closing with songs from Sixteen Stone are great bookends for a Bush concert. This was a busy year for Bush, and there have been talks about a new album being finished which will maybe come out in 2025. However, if it doesn’t, I think a tour of the band playing Sixteen Stone in full to celebrate 30 years would be one of the best tours of 2025.
Bush
