What did Bush look and sound like in Ottawa on their current tour? Here’s a review with photos.

[Ross MacDonald and Karen Coughtrey were once again on the case. – AC]

It was throwback rock night in Ottawa Tuesday night (May 6, 2025) as Bush brought their tour through town with guests, Filter and Rival Sons.

Creepy ambient music, slowly increasing in volume as it filled up the dark space, let the audience know the night was beginning a few minutes earlier than expected.

If one was there to hear their old favourites, they got their wish, as although Filter released a new album in 2023, The Algorithm, the night’s seven song playlist pulled only from their early albums and featured ‘(Can’t You) Trip Like I do’, ‘Jurassitol’, and ‘Welcome To The Fold’ all from their platinum 1999 album Title Of Record.

Of course a turn of the millenium Filter concert wouldn’t be complete without their biggest hits. They played what they described as the biggest song they ever wrote, ‘Take A Picture’ and to no one’s surprise saved the mega hit from their debut platinum album Short Bus, ‘Hey Man Nice Shot’, for last.

Between songs Richard engaged in the regular customary warm ‘em up chat with the crowd but the love of live music, the experience of being able to attend live music events and the wonder and ability to make a living as a touring musician would be a theme of the banter from all the bands with Filter emphasizing the importance of the income they receive through merch sales.

Rival Sons would continue the evening’s trend of taking the stage earlier than expected and lead, Jay Buchanan, would as always appear as if he’d walked straight out of the 60’s or 70’s.

On this night, he was clad in a suit, but barefoot, his long hair flowing free, perfect for him to occasionally find that impeccable spot on stage where the smoke machine would blow it off his face to dramatic effect. The man can SING and it’s virtually impossible not to be drawn in by his powerful all-enveloping voice.

If the look and sound of the band or Buchanan occasionally playing a tambourine wasn’t enough to make one feel as if they’d been transported back in time his “Peace and Love” type advice was a further nod to a time gone by. To bid the audience farewell he urged them to take care of each other and as introduction to ‘Where I’ve Been’, he said:

“One of the oldest medicines to take or to give is…Forgiveness. If you’re walking around not forgiving yourself. That’s the hardest thing to do, isn’t it? Someone has a transgression against you and they do something and say “My bad, I’m so sorry” and you look at them in pain and you hate to see this and you say “It’s all good, it’s ok” but when you wont forgive yourself, nobody knows about it. When nobodys looking, you will kick the shit out of yourself rather than just forgive yourself and move on.”

In contrast to Filter, although with an equally short set, Rival Sons did play some music off some of their newest albums with ‘Torture’ and ‘Mirrors’ but the rest of the set was pulled off their albums from the 2010’s and included ‘Open My Eyes’, ‘Pressure + Time’, ‘Electric Man’, and finished with ‘Do Your Worst’.

They too spoke about attending and performing live music, thanking the crowd for spending their hard earned money to be there and the joy of the gig (“I fuck around for a living” Buchanan said) while also acknowledging the struggle to make it work as a living for a musician.

Headliners, Bush, were not early to the stage, but did not keep the crowd waiting. In the minutes before they appeared, dramatic sound effects brought to mind an electrical storm as a searchlight like spotlight slowly weaving above the stage to build anticipation.

Thunder was added by Nik Hughes pounding the drums while the bright white strobes flashed. One had to wonder how his drum skins survived this introduction.

The exclamations of astoundment from those web searching the age of the band members is proof that the band members look as if they have not aged a wink since the peak of their popularity.

Clad much as they would’ve been back then (hoodies/t-shirts, jeans/cargo pants, skater shoes), dynamic frontman Gavin Rossdale was continuously in motion, dancing across the stage, rolling around on the floor and making every effort to connect with the crowd, coming out into the audience first just to the standing crowd near the stage but later making a trip around the floor of the arena and into the stands, generously giving hugs to many an ecstatic fan.

Like the opening bands, the set list was dominated with songs from their 90’s albums, first were ‘Everything Zen’, and ‘Machinehead’, they closed the main set with ‘Little Things’ and in between were ‘The Chemicals Between Us’, ‘Greedy Fly’, ‘Letting The Cables Sleep’, and a haunting solo acoustic performance of ‘Swallowed’.

However, there was newer music included too with ‘Bullet Holes’, ‘Quicksand’, and ‘Flowers On A Grave’ from their 2020 album The Kingdom as well as ‘Heavy Is The Ocean’ and ‘More than Machines’ from their 2022 album The Art Of Survival. Bush has a new album, I Beat Loneliness, slated to be released mid-July of this year and they also performed the first single: ‘60 Ways To Forget People’.

To say that Bush has a strong rhythm section is an enormous understatement. Nik on drums, and Corey Britz on bass not only provide the throbbing cadence, their onstage energy and nonverbal cues to the audience helped draw all the fans into a greater concert experience.

Gavin too would speak about the community of live music, the ups and downs of the industry (especially lately), and their gratitude for the fans supporting the bands best efforts to continue to make music, the tour, and purchasing the new albums.

Gavin acknowledged the beauty, joy, and energy of the people and city of Ottawa and suggested they “blow the roof off the place”! The roof may have technically stayed put, but the vibes were certainly high for the band’s encore set which included a fun cover of the Beatles’ ‘Come Together’ that had absolutely everyone joining in, and a solo performance of ‘Glycerine’ before turning the dynamism back up and ending the night exuberantly (with lyrics perfectly mirroring the feelings of the crowd?) with ‘Comedown’.

Filter
Richard Patrick – lead vocals, guitar
Johnathan Radtke – guitar, vocals
Bobby Miller – bass, vocals
Elias Mallin – drums

Rival Sons
Jay Buchanan – lead vocals, guitar, tambourine
Scott Holiday – guitar, vocals
Mike Miley – drums, vocals
Dave Beste – bass vocals

Bush
Gavin Rossdale – lead vocals, guitar
Chris Traynor – guitar
Corey Britz – bass, vocals
Nik Hughes – drums