Bush Brings Loaded: The Greatest Hits tour to Utah

90’s music was alive and well last week in Utah as iconic post grunge/alt rockers, Bush, brought their Loaded: The Greatest Hits Tour to West Valley City for a stop at the Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre. Joining them on this run was also up and coming rocker, Tim Montana, and fellow Seattle grunge rockers, Candlebox and Jerry Cantrell (founder and guitarist of Alice in Chains.)

Bush started the show with a high energy fan favorite in “Everything Zen” which got the crowd singing along and into the show. Vocalist, Gavin Rossdale, worked the stage with his infectious energy feeding into the other band members and the crowd. The crowd went crazy when the first notes for the next song hit the speakers and the band broke into “Machinehead.” Drummer, Nik Hughes, pounded the drums for this song with an intense energy while guitarist, Chris Traynor and bassist Corey Britz, mesmerized the crowd with their chords and bass.

The Loaded tour was pulling out all fan favorites from their impressive catalogue spanning 30 years in the business. It was an impressive mix of the early hits and newer songs such as “Heavy is the Ocean” and “Flowers on a Grave” the latter of which saw Rossdale work his way through the entire venue singing in the seated sections and lawn sections to the delight of fans who rushed to the area for pictures and videos.

The band was firing on all cylinders on the night and Rossdale exhibited his tenacity as a front man showcasing just why he was the face of rock throughout the band’s early years. The emotional experience was clear as Rossdale kept talking with the fans and at one point halting the band so he could tell the crowd just what the experience had meant to him to be able to play for the crowd throughout his career.

The night closed out with an encore performance of the monster hits “Glycerine” which Rossdale performed as a solo and “Comedown.” The performance of these two songs had everyone in the venue on their feet and singing along. For two brief songs us older folks were reliving our teens and early twenties singing along to one of the greatest bands to come out of the post grunge era.

Overall, the night was a huge success and an emotional experience. With a new album in the works, it’s only a matter of time until we see the band back in Utah and I know I will be marking my calendar as soon as its announced.