Gavin & Co. Rock Gwen's
'Tragic Kingdom'
Alternative Poster Boys Bush
Juice Orange County

It took Gavin Rossdale, the charismatic front man for alternative rock's Bush, all of 5 minutes to wreck his perfectly coifed hair and incite the capacity crowd at The Grove of Anaheim in Orange County, CA.  Playing in his fiancée Gwen Stefani's backyard on the penultimate night of this leg of Bush's North American tour, Gavin and his mates hit the stage hard and kept the energy up throughout their set. 

After keeping the fans waiting for quite some time, Gavin led the troops on stage, said nary a word and started right in.  With a catalogue of major hits, Bush started with the smash "People That We Love," from their current release, Golden State and continued on through a list of songs that the entire crowd could sing along to.  Rossdale kept an intense, passionate demeanor throughout the evening, stopping only long enough to shed some clothing along the way.

Entering with a white jacket buckled to the neck, Rossdale looked more the model than rock star.  After two songs, the jacket was gone, his hair was tussled and the sweat was beading noticeably on his brow, which only seemed to spark him further.  Serving to juxtapose Rossdale, bassist Dave Parsons enjoyed staying out of the spotlight, maintaining a cool, calm presence and easy smile.  Former Helmet guitarist Chris Trainor proved to be a more than adequate sit-in for new father Nigel Pulsford, who decided to sit out Bush's North American tour to be at home with his wife during childbirth.

Reaching back to their debut, 1994's multi-platinum Sixteen Stone for the alternative anthems "Machine Head" and  "Everything Zen," and continuing through "Inflatable," the current single, Bush played them like the classics that, for the most part, they are.  Though often dismissed and not given the credit they deserve, Bush's stage show has only gotten better, and not through pyrotechnics, but rather through the raw energy and charisma of Rossdale and the heavy hitting of drummer Robin Goodridge, who snarls with the best of them.

The mostly late-twenty-somethings that comprised the majority of the crowd seemed almost blown away by the pure energy that the band put out.  It's a common difference between OC and LA crowds - the LA crowds, at least the paying customers, are usually a bit younger overall, though the OC concerts don't have near as many industry folk milling about.

Rossdale and the gang showed the crowd why they've been able to sell out every night on the tour - the passion, dedication and energy are still as strong as they were on their first junket through America.

Bush proved to be almost too big a band for The Grove of Anaheim.  The sound system and size seemed to almost to constrain the band.  Bush has long ago proved that they are an arena rock act, and The Grove barely fit the bill.  The Grove, though a very nice venue, has had so many names in the past two years that most people have no idea where it is.