Just when we thought Gavin Rossdale had permanently swapped his guitar strap for a baby Snuggly, the former Bush man goes and shows us he’s still got a little fire in the ol’ belly.
The 43-year-old British rocker played his heart out at the Burton Cummings Theatre on Wednesday night. Sure, the crowd was sparse at 750. But after years of dealing with the unwanted Mr. Stefani moniker – a result of marrying Gwen Stefani and fathering her two sons shortly after his post-grunge band Bush split – Rossdale, simply dressed in blue jeans and a T-shirt, had something to prove.
And whatever that was, he seemed to have accomplished it.
While the doting daddy of two-year-old Kingston and eight-month-old Zuma focused mainly on his pop-rock solo debut WANDERlust, he exercised his other catalogue options – including at least one track from nearly every Bush album and even one (Bullet Proof Skin) from his short-lived band Institute’s only disc Distort Yourself. Oh, and there was also that rather impressive cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide.
Obviously the Bush tunes went over best – and Rossdale snuck 1994 Sixteen Stone hit Machinehead into the setlist early on before hauling out other old favourites like ballad Glycerine and heavy-hitter Comedown for the encore.
In between, the raspy-voiced singer-guitarist carved an edge on WANDERlust’s softer offerings – notably This is Happiness and If You’re Not With Us You Are Against Us – and slowed things down for Forever May You Run and single Love Remains the Same (which has been heard on soundtracks galore, from film Nights in Rodanthe to last week’s episode of 90210).
And, always the gracious Brit, Rossdale was sure to thank his enthused audience numerous times.
“It’s good to see you again,” he said. “Thank you for coming out.”
Though would it really have killed him to further express his gratitude by smiling once in awhile? We swore we heard someone behind us wonder aloud, “Is he dead?” due to the pained zombie expression he held onto throughout his 90-minute set.
We guess that’s all part of maintaining the tortured grunge-singer image he built for himself as Bush’s frontman – and a frequently accused Kurt Cobain imitator – in the mid-1990s. And we’ll forgive him on the grounds that he’s barely aged since the band played to thousands of screaming teenagers at the Winnipeg Arena in 1997. It was hard not to still be mesmerized by the curly-haired heartthrob’s bedroom eyes and svelte tennis-player’s physique – we’re not gonna lie. No doubt the Great Gwen has great taste.
Aside from the occasional handshake and rockstar pose on either side of the stage, neither Rossdale nor the members of his four-piece band (who remain anonymous, since he didn’t introduce them) truly acknowledged the fans. And while we’d say that was our biggest criticism, it didn’t seem to matter much to all the still-devoted female AND male Bush-heads in the crowd, whose love for Rossdale clearly remains the same.
Setlist
The Trouble I’m In
Machinehead
Frontline
If You’re Not With Us You Are Against Us
Can’t Stop the World
Forever May You Run
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac cover)
Bullet Proof Skin
Everything Zen
This is Happiness
The People That We Love
Encore
The Chemicals Between Us
Love Remains the Same
Glycerine
Comedown
[via Winnipeg Sun]
"Wanderlust"
Established: October 2002
