Bush, with Chevelle, and Filter at The Rave in Milwaukee, WI
As my weekend of seeing English lead singers continued with Gavin Rossdale from Bush and the night before with Roger Daltrey, I decided to head up to Milwaukee to check them out. With 3 shows going at the Rave that night, the front office was a bit hectic and informed of the wrong time Filter would be coming on - little after 7pm but in reality, they came on at 6:30.
As I walked in, they just started playing Take a Picture, while they had a good sized crowd for their set, it would get much larger within 45 minutes. They finished up with The Best Things and Hey Man Nice Shot which seems Richard Patricks has taken to crowd surfing for this song at each tour stop. With just 3 songs to hear, I have to admit. seeing them before, I was a little let down with just going through the motions and with recent facebook comments of Patrick wanting to quit might be getting to him; would be a shame because when Filter is on its’ game, they kick ass.
Next up was Chevelle. Having seen them several times this year you get to see how they have evolved. First time I saw Chevelle was several years back and the one thing that always bothered me was Pete Loeffler would just stand there with his foot on the floor monitor and not move much; would drive me crazy because I love Chevelle’s music, since then each time, he has gotten out of that habit. Seeing them on Saturday, you see a well-oiled machine and Pete interacting with the crowd more and have become now the one band I love seeing live.
They opened with Family System, Jars, and Vitamin R, with a beautiful backdrop and perfect lighting - was one of the best performances I have seen from them. They thanked Milwaukee for all their support and how they have played at The Rave so many times it’s like a second home to them. They continued with Anti Saint, their new song, Face to the Floor off the upcoming album, and Sleep Apnea.
Throughout this tour they are changing up a few songs to keep things from being predictable.
They ended the night with The Red, which Pete was having guitar issues from the start. Without stopping, he kept singing even after the second guitar was out of tune. He ended up with a third guitar but even this guitar was tuned to the A chord for the next song and sounded strange with The Red being played in the dropped tuned C Chord. I give them credit for just going with it. The Clincher and I Get It finished up the 1 hour setlist.
With the place now packed the crowd waited for BUSH - taking over the whole stage at the Rave, with a huge banner behind them and the drummer on a raised platform. They opened up with Little Things, which had the crowd going with nonstop crowd surfers trying to reach Gavin Rossdale. They next played I Believe In You off their new album, “The Sea of Memories,” The Chemicals Between Us, and Greedy Fly.
The band and Rossdale sounded amazing and you can tell they were having a blast in Milwaukee tonight. When they played Everything Zen, Rossdale got off the stage and played his guitar and sang as he walked from one side of the crowd to the other. It was a blast seeing him come over to where I was and just reach out into the crowd to sing. They crowd was loving it and gushing over Rossdale, I have to admit it was pretty damn cool.
Playing six songs off the new album and one of my favorites of the new album is The Afterlife. Both Swallowed and Machinehead sounded great and guitarist Chris Traynor was killing it all night with some amazing guitar playing. During Machinehead, Rossdale came back to my side and almost jumped over into the crowd as he hung most of his body over the rail and the fans grabbing onto him. With a brief break they came out for an encore of the Beatles classic, Come Together that had the whole crowed singing along.
Glycerine and Comedown ended the night. Comedown had the biggest sing-along of the night as the band stopped playing to just listen to the crowd sing along for the full chorus. You could tell Rossdale was impressed and had a huge smile on his face as he thanked the crowd for all they have given to them as they walked off the stage.
For any fan of Bush, you need to check out the new album because it sounds great and will get you ready for when they come to your town.
All Photos Provided by Peter Lizano
