Date: Fri 09-Feb-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-9

Quick Words:

Concert-Bush-Meadows-Rossdale

Full Text:

(rev of Bush concert @Meadows, Hartford, 2/9/96)

Concert Review-

Bush Pulls In Full Crop Of Fans

(with photo)

By Shannon Hicks

HARTFORD - February 3 was only 34 days into the new year, and the best concert

of the year may have been played that night at the Meadows Music Theatre in

Hartford. Regardless of the venue, it's going to be tough for any band to top

the solid performance, from start to finish, English alternative/modern rock

band Bush presented for 7,500 Connecticut fans Saturday night - the first

concert of the year at the new Hartford venue, and the first sold-out concert

of the facility's 1995-96 inaugural indoor season.

Highlight of the night was undoubtedly lead singer Gavin Rossdale's solo

performance of "Glycerine," the band's fourth single off its debut Trauma

Records album, Sixteen Stone , although the entire concert was full of

positive points. The British band's album has sold three million records after

12 months of availability, currently resting at the No. 4 spot on Billboard's

album chart, its highest spot to date. Amazingly, the strong success of this

band comes after being together for only two years to date.

Sixteen Stone is a great album; yet it doesn't do Bush justice. The band is,

hands down, even better live than its studio efforts hint at. Through the

speakers, lead singer Rossdale sounds like a huge man; his voice is so big,

full and intimidating, you almost expect the singer to be about seven feet

tall and strong enough to bench press a tour bus.

In reality, Rossdale's vocals are even stronger and it's the lessons of good

training which produce such a resonating voice, impressive as hell in concert

(a tour bus may not be in his reach, but there are some muscles to this guy,

as evidenced by the bulges beneath the sleeves of his long-sleeve white

T-shirt Saturday). His lithe, sexy, cat-like movements are very similar to

what folks used to associate with INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence -

Rossdale shows off the same pouty hips, even tossing his (shorter, but

similarly styled) mop of hair like a Hutchence protege.

Big on talent, Rossdale is a man of few words, much to the liking of his

audience. He and the rest of the band - guitarist Nigel Pulsford, bassist Dave

Parsons and drummer Robin Goodridge - go from song to song with barely a

pause. Rossdale did, however, take the time to crack a few jokes about the

amount of "beautiful" snow we have these days.

On Saturday night, the hottest thing to come across the Atlantic since the

1980s British Invasion continued into `96 after a year of non-stop touring,

enjoying its highest commercial success to date. After three singles that

captured the public's attention ("Everything Zen," "Come Down" and "Little

Things," all performed last weekend), modern rock radio released the

aforementioned "Glycerine," which promoter Jim Koplik has said "broke them

wide open." These are words to listen to from a man who knows the music

business (who also happens to be co-owner of the Meadows Music Theatre).

The band has released Sixteen Stone 's fifth single, "Machinehead," anotherh

song fans of the band are eating right up.

With the style they're pushing and the songs they are singing, the four

bandmates in Bush fit into almost any background you can imagine, like those

Color forms toys you played with when you were a kid. The foursome would look

as at home at a basement frat house party as they would on stage in front of

15,000 screaming fans - they seem that chameleon-like.

Modern rock radio fans are not known for a long attention span; what's on top

today can be ancient history tomorrow. Most mod rock bands don't last beyond

three albums, four if they are either extremely lucky or fast to complete an

album's worth of good work. Bush will no doubt become ancient history one day,

but right now it is without a doubt one of the hottest bands in the country.

Saturday's frenzied concert in Hartford was perfect timing - the band probably

could have sold twice as many seats, in fact, had they been available - and

Connecticut Bush lovers were ecstatically happy Hartford was finally included

on the band's itinerary.