Even when you're not a great Bush fan, when you know that some members of the crowd have been waiting two and a half hours to be let into the venue, you're on to a good thing. The night was going to be energy fuelled.

With an almost sold-out crowd, support band Cyclefly were hailed onto the stage as if they were the band of the night. Singer Declan's delicate frame offsets his almost infamous bright red hair as his distinctive voice creates a great atmosphere in the venue. Posturing round the stage like Iggy Pop, his acrobatic moves are reminiscent of how flexible their sound is too. The Hive is the song most recognisable to the audience (featured on numerous free magazine CDs). Enough hooks in there to keep your attention and enjoyment, but not so many that the tenderness or rawness of the song is lost. As their guitars drive on to the end of the set Declan even throws in a few token stagedives, with a crowd only too happy to catch him. As Cyclefly leave the stage we are left wondering if we had just witnessed the main band of the night.

When Bush finally come onto the stage, it is in fact hard to distinguish them as being the centre of attention after Cyclefly's astounding performance. But on they walk, although to start with they seem listless, just going through the moves of a Nirvana take-off, as they most usually are called. However once they realise the crowd have the energy of a wound spring, they liven up a bit.

Disappointedly, little onstage banter takes place, leaving some of the audience feeling as though the stage is just a television screen completely separate to the crowd in the venue. For many in the audience it is probable that this is their first ever gig, this does cause some clashes of interests with 'seasoned moshers' in the crowd though, but a shared appreciation of the band is held (whether it be for the music or "Gavin's really nice new haircut"!). The new songs they are playing are hard to distinguish from one another; no new Swalloweds to keep an ear out for. But Bush soon revert to playing tracks from their older albums and slide back into the more comfortable position as a jumping mainstream guitar band that all fans loved them for, as if a pair of well loved but worn trainers.

As the expected Swallowed starts it is at first unrecognisable but as the chorus kicks in, the moshpit goes wild as en-masse 'surfing commences. As the band, much happier once they realise their position in the hearts of the fans present today, Gavin even throws in a few token stage-dives. When the singer later disappears from the stage, he is found walking through the crowd playing a lengthy guitar solo surrounded by panicky security staff. Although perhaps trying to connect with the crowd, there was a hint of a condescending air.

Perhaps Gavin's usual attire of a 'Jesus Rocks' t-shirt should be translated in a different way, as here it seems as though he feels he is a prophet walking amongst the unwashed of the moshpit. The fact that they left a rather long time of at least ten minutes before they returned to the stage also appeared a bit arrogant with some of the crowds cheers turning into jeers. However the encore was worth the wait as Bush brought back yet more songs from their old album. With amazing scenes of crowdsurfing and the band's encouragement, by the end of the last song half of the crowd were on the stage emulating the band with attempted stage diving antics.

Maybe the songs themselves weren't quite enough to draw the crowd but the energy it allowed the crowd to expel was amazing. Bush are still not quite a band in their own right yet, but they helped provide a hell of a good night out! (Although perhaps next year it will be Bush providing the support slot to the amazing Cyclefly, unless they come down off that high horse they seem to have been riding recently!).

Dawn Hoskin

Live Reviews
The Music Bar