Bush and Shinedown Turn Up the Heat at Spark Arena

An explosion of power, pyro, and nostalgia rocked its way over Spark Arena last night. The dual headline experience of Bush + Shinedown was not to be missed.

A hearty “Up the Wah’s” greeted opener and hometown heroes Coast Arcade. Who, despite some apparent nerves at the beginning of their set, quickly found their groove and made the stadium stage their home. The polished and high energy live set that the band are famous for in the Auckland music scene translated incredibly well. With the band’s hits Acetone, Greener, and City Limits garnering a great response from the crowd.

No doubt Coast Arcade will be a welcome addition to the Australasian leg of the tour, as lead singer Bella Bavin took a moment to thank the local audience “this is our first arena show, thank you so much for being here early to see us… 5 years ago we were playing our school assembly and now we’re playing Spark Arena, crazy.”

A very tidy cover of Velvet Revolver’s ‘Slither’ finished off their set “we always wanted to cover this song, but we were too shit. Now, we’re a little less shit so let’s give it a go” continued Bavin. Safe to say, Coast Arcade were very far from their school assembly. It’s not a stretch to see them headlining their own show at the arena in a few years.

Buzzy strobes and rumbling bass reverberated through the crowd as we approached the start of Bush’s set. The British rockers wasted no time in setting the tone. Classic hit Everything Zen came out swinging, with frontman Gavin Rossdale immediately commanding attention. Stopping the set for a moment as an audience member presented him with a gift, Rossdale initially seemed a little befuddled. It wasn’t clear what he’d been given, to us or him apparently, but he made sure to pass on his thanks before the band ripped right into Machinehead.

Minor interruption aside, the momentum was back up and the crowd jumped in unison to the stank face inducing bass riffs of Corey Britz on Heavy is the Ocean. Bush paused for a moment and cleared the stage before Rossdale made his way back alone, taking a moment to honour their former manager Peter Katsis who passed away in October at the age of 69. Noting this tour was the last thing he booked for them before his passing and the next track would be dedicated to him. Rossdale followed this up with a beautiful rendition of Glycerine, under a single spotlight, a touching tribute to the memory of a friend and colleague.

Bush didn’t let the set stay mellow for long, bringing everything from the lights to the volume up to max for Human Sand, I felt for the security who had to follow Rossdale on a lap of the entire stadium from top levels to bottom. Stopping for a few hugs along the way. The band sounded slightly dejected when informing the now fizzing crowd that their encore has been cut from 3 songs to 2 due to a time crunch. However that didn’t stop them belting out some high energy renditions of More Than Machines and Comedown to close.

I often try to gauge the next set by the crowds response to the changeover music – tonight seemed very on brand, with a sobriety challenged man playing conductor for the crowd who all joined in on John Denver’s iconic Country Roads (Take Me Home). The unity of music would go on to be the defining theme of Shinedown’s explosive and dynamic set. Although I’m still not sure how the guy with a TV on his head dancing to Sledgehammer came into it (yes that happened). The heat from the pyro could be felt in the stands as the Florida quartet blasted off with Safe and Sound. Drummer Barry Kerch was absolutely smashing those snares for all they’re worth.

Despite already knocking out several high energy tracks, it wasn’t quite there for singer Brent Smith who made a suggestion to the crowd “I’ll tell you what, Thursday nights are no good – let’s turn it up to Saturday!” Smith deferred to the “Shirtless master of abs on bass” Mr Eric Bass, to determine if they would be going up or down with their next song. Given that the next track was 2012’s Enemies, the answer was a resounding “UP!” There were still a few soft and heartfelt moments through the evening, including a touching tribute to fallen friend Brad Arnold (lead singer of 3 Doors Down) which included lead guitarist Zach Myers performing a cover of Kryptonite. Smith making sure to drive home the theme of unity, and bringing people together through music “you arrived here as strangers, you leave as a family.”

Shinedown are well known for their live performances, featuring on the bucket list of many a rock fan. After last night, it was easy to see why. The energy, production, and talent of each member of the band was exceptional. Shinedown themselves seemed to enjoy the welcome Aotearoa provided, commenting “you’ve been patient, it took us 20 years to get here, but now we want to come back again and again and again.” Finishing up with their smash hit Second Chance, Smith noted that the band doesn’t say goodbye, they say “until next time.” If the goal was unity, it was achieved, just in our seating area there were kids all the way up to people in their 60s. All singing along in harmony. People came to hear the music, and left with an experience. Until next time.

Review by Mitchell Miller, Photography by Ginny Cocks