Live Report: Bush, Jerry Cantrell, Candlebox at the Greek Theatre (September 15, 2024)

A hard-rocking night of 90’s nostalgia.

Any fan of the heavier music of the 90’s was at the Greek Theatre this last Sunday night, where Bush capped off the current leg of their tour promoting their greatest hits record, LOADED. Joined by fellow 90’s grunge and hard rock alums Jerry Cantrell (of Alice In Chains fame) and Candlebox, along with newer band Bones UK, it was a loud evening of heavy music that would please nostalgists and younger fans just getting into this classic sound.

Unfortunately I arrived at the venue too late to see Bones UK perform, so my evening began with Candlebox igniting the stage. I will cop to not being at-all familiar with the band’s music until last year when their new (and final) album The Long Goodbye came out, and I went back into their catalog a bit along with listening to their new work. Though a lot of their songs land in grunge/post-grunge’s angrier, less-melodic sound that I don’t necessarily gravitate towards, seeing the group live there was no denying they were a powerful force onstage. While Chris Cornell gets most of the praise for being one of the best rock vocalists of that era, Kevin Martin gives the late, great Cornell a run for his money. He is a beast of a vocalist! Moving across the stage like a raging lion, the commanded attention, with his band matching him in ferocity and energy.

Martin seemed to be approaching the night with a tongue-in-cheek, wry outlook, seemingly knowing Los Angeles was perhaps not the town where most of the band’s fans were based. He introduced his old and new songs (like the excellent “Elegante” from the new album) with a casual cool and anti-hype. One notable moment was his introduction of “10,000 Horses”, admitting it wasn’t a song he cared for too much and had been avoiding, but they decided to play it that night because their long-time sound man requested it (and the band gave that performance their all). They closed their set with the expected hits (the songs that certainly got the L.A. audience’s attention), “Far Behind” (where they were joined by Bones UK’s guitarist) and “You”. As Candlebox have announced they are calling it a day soon, they are certainly going out on top.

While I WAS much more familiar with Alice In Chains, I will say I have never loved most of their 90’s grunge hits (minus the excellent “Nutshell” and “I Stay Awake”), and I wasn’t familiar at all with Cantrell’s solo music. It’s always harder to judge a live performance when you’re not initially invested in the music being played – while I could certainly appreciate Cantrell’s musicality and the spot-on harmonizing and playing from his band, it was more of a steady performance, with less movement and energy than Candlebox before-them.

Things took a turn when the band busted out “Man in the Box”. Even though this classic isn’t a track I ever vibed with, hearing it all over the radio as a kid, the power of hearing it live and the familiarity it has picked things up both on-stage and in the audience. Touring vocalist Greg Puciato killed the Layne Stanley parts, and seemed completely in-sync with Cantrell. The rest of the band provided solid support, even attempting to show-off or outshine Cantrell. The band then went into Cantrell’s solo tracks “Afterglow” (one of the more melodic tracks in his catalog) and the rhythmic “Cut You In”, which is certainly catchy. Cantrell ended his set with a couple other classic AiC tracks; “Would?” and “Rooster”, which while not exactly sing-along material, still had the audience standing up and banging their heads.

The stage set-up was changed, with a new level built to allow for some new lighting and a higher drum stand. As Bush‘s drummer came out and revved up the audience from his higher vantage point, it built excitement for the arrival of Gavin Rossdale and the rest of his current line-up of the post-grunge heroes. The band wasted no time in getting into their classic hits, beginning with a one-two punch of “Everything Zen” and the forever-badass “Machinehead” (a long-time favorite). The audience were on their feet and roaring with excitement.

For a 58 year old, Rossdale is NOT showing his age. Lean, dancing, jumping and connecting with various audience members, Rossdale seemed in great spirits and health as he commanded the stage. On certain tracks, he donned his guitar and busted out classic alt rock hits like “The Chemicals Between Us”, while prowling the stage for newer, heavier songs like “Bullet Holes”. Knowing that the tour was in support of the greatest hits album, I knew there wouldn’t be too many surprises in the set-list, and the surprises were mainly which tracks from that double-album Rossdale would go with (and I would like to say, the album is hurt by not including “Headful of Ghosts”). Of the post-90’s Bush output, my favorite in the set was “The Sound of Winter”, one of the most melodic and emotional of the new crop of singles.

While the audience of the show was generally over-30 Millenials and Gen-Xers, many of those groups brought their kids, some of whom were just as excited to see Bush as their parents. Even more surprising, some of these young fans were familiar with the group’s newer hits (a couple young girls were cheering for “The Kingdom”).

One surprisingly beautiful stand-out moment from the set was Rossdale’s solo-take on “Swallow”. With nothing but a backing track of ethereal vocals and lush atmospheric chorals, Rossdale stood alone on stage under a spotlight and performed a haunting take on the track. Is was a departure from the rock-centric performance up until this moment, and was a nice respite from the heavy riffs and pummeling drums.

The heaviness returned after this, fittingly with “Heavy is the Ocean”. Rossdale then took off into the crowd, going all the way to the furtherest-most bleacher seats of The Greek while performing “Flowers on a Grave”. This was certainly an audience-pleaser for those not fortunate enough to be able to afford the good seas (or have press passes like I did). Once back on stage, the band went back into a dynamic “More Than Machines”, and were joined by Kevin Martin for Bush’s take on The Beatles‘ “Come Together”.

The band left the stage after this unifying moment, but of course were destined to come back. And Rossdale did, with just a guitar. After giving heartfelt thanks to Los Angeles, his current home and the city that gave the band their big break (shout-out KROQ), he played the group’s most evergreen hit, “Glycerine”, which had my girlfriend in tears. It’s a beautiful song that remains as effective today as it was over twenty years ago. I would personally say the same thing for closer “Come Down”, which the band was joined by Jerry Cantrell for. The song’s huge, cathartic chorus has always struck a chord for me, and was a powerful closer for the night.

With groups like Creed and Nickleback gaining new, younger fans and re-analysis from critics, it’s about time Bush garnered the same revived interest (I would take their songs over Creed‘s any day). If you haven’t listened to the band in a long time, dive back through their hits by listening to Loaded!