Bush (supported by Vex Red) – Nottingham Rock City, 21 November 2001

I hate that. Arriving to a gig too late to see the opening act - often, in my case, the band I’ve come to see. Tonight is one of those nights.

Having departed late from Lincoln, I arrived at Rock City to be greeted by the sounds of Vex Red already swirling through epic song after epic song, and I learned all too soon afterwards that I had missed their performance of current single ‘Itch’.

Having muscled my way to the front, I was accosted by a woman asking if they (Vex Red) were any good. My response? Oh yes. The remainder of a searing set that included forthcoming single ‘Can’t Smile’ (with the tongue-in-cheek inclusion of the chorus to ‘Genie in a Bottle’ by Christina Aguilera) and the blistering ‘Start With A Strong And Persistent Desire’ reinforced my answer.

Having seen the band earlier in the year at the same venue performing to a small and largely uninterested audience, tonight was a chance for the Southsea quintet to really establish themselves as one of the UK’s bright hopes in alternative music.

The attendance of several other key players on the UK scene underlined how important a band Vex Red are shaping up to be – members of earthtone9, Tarpot, Pitchshifter and a former Kill II This bassist were all watching on with interest.

With the strength of material on show tonight, and a debut album produced by knob-twiddling god Ross Robinson coming soon, it’s easy to imagine Vex Red headlining these kind of venues in the not-too-distant future.

The thing with Bush is you either love them or you hate them. If you hate them you might as well stop reading now.

Launching straight into ‘Solutions’ from their brand new LP ‘Golden State’, Bush are impressive. Having sold 15 million records worldwide, you’d expect them to be. And that really sums up Bush’s performance tonight – that of a multi-million selling band. A tight live show with their biggest hits and showcasing a few new ones, but never really doing much more to really warrant the adoration I once had for them.

Current single ‘The People That We Love’ sits comfortably amongst previous winners like ‘Machinehead’ and ‘The Chemicals Between Us’, and a well-executed encore including ‘Glycerine’ and chart topping ‘Swallowed’ saw the female contingent swooning at Gavin Rossdale’s emotionally charged vocals.

It was during the encore that I realised that in the four years since I’d last seen Bush, Gavin Rossdale has transformed from a rock star into a rock GOD. Embracing the crowd throughout the set and getting all but mauled during a stage dive in the middle of evening closer ‘Little Things’, Rossdale has it all. Good looks, a wonderful voice, and a great band.

It seems a shame that Rossdale and the other members of Bush will probably never receive such resounding acknowledgement and recognition from a music press still trying to paint them with the ‘Nirvana-clone’ brush.