Revolution 3 Tour brings back the best of alt/grunge and hard rock

By Chyrisse Tabone, Rock At Night Tampa

Venue: Mid-Florida Credit Union Amphitheatre–Revolution 3 Tour–Stone Temple Pilots, The Cult, Bush with support by The Dirty Hooks

The Dirty Hooks

The Revolution 3 Tour rolled into the Mid-Florida Credit Union Amphitheatre on August 8th  with a triple treat for those Gen X’ers who cut their teeth on 80s hard rock and 90s alternative and grunge music,  to the sounds of Stone Temple Pilot, The Cult, and Bush.  Staying with the theme of “three” the support band for the evening was a threesome from Las Vegas called The Dirty Hooks, playing their brand of gritty garage rock.  The sun was blaring down and the amphitheatre felt like a sauna as this band strutted and rocked out. I definitely will keep my eye on this band!

STP

Around 7 p.m., Stone Temple Pilots with lead singer Jeff Gutt, runner up on The X Factor (Season Three), stepped out on the stage. Everyone knows the history of the band and its lead singers, but I have to say that Gutt really nailed songs like “Vasoline” and my favorite “Plush”, which he sang with great emotion. I found myself standing under the canopy with the other photographers and singing along as the melody permeated the fairgrounds with its dark allure.  It is one song that never gets old. Other favorites from the band’s psych rock era were “Big Bang Baby” and “Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart”.  The set ended with STP’s first single on record “Sex Type Thing”, which is hard to believe, it has been over 25 years since it debuted! It was a real pleasure watching Robert DeLeo on bass (Rock At Night is also a fan of his side project with Phil Collen, “Delta Deep”), Dean DeLeo ripping it up on guitar, and Erik Kretz, working it hard on the drums.

Ian Astbury of The Cult

Next up was the 80s legends The Cult, which featured the charismatic lead singer Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy on the mighty Gretsch.  By this time of the evening, Tampa had its usual evening deluge of rain, but most of the people stayed somewhat dry underneath the canopy of the amphitheatre. While Stone Temple Pilots and Bush hogged the air waves in the early- to mid-nineties with their grungy music, The Cult really were innovators in the eighties because their hard rock music could easily slip into a New Wave or Punk club at the time.  Even songs like “The Phoenix” seemed to be the precursor of Goth music.

Billy Duffy of The Cult

Ian Astbury wore his trademark black shades and shoulder length hair, and black attire. He was not swinging the mic as much these days but gave a little head shake now and then.

Looking at 80s videos like “She Sells Sanctuary” convinced me that Luke Spillar of The Struts was heavily influenced from Astbury (and not just Freddie Mercury). The Cult ended their set to a very happy crowd by singing “Fire Woman”, a Sirius XM 80s on 8 staple, I must say—and why? Because the song is simply timeless and in the top 10 of classic rock songs, in my book!

Gavin Rossdale of Bush

Bush came on the stage before 10 p.m. to a very warmed up (and noticeably high as the odor of ganja was thick in the air) crowd. It felt like the mid-90s all over again!  Much to the crowd’s delight, Bush played a lot of the songs from their massively popular debut album Sixteen Stone which featured “Machinehead,” “Everything Is Zen”, and “Little Things.”  One of my personal favorites of the evening was “Glycerine.”  As I recall, the song “This is War”, a very personal song, was one of the few recent releases performed. Bush was totally full of energy as Gavin Rossdale played rhythm guitar, belted out songs, swung the microphone around, and worked up a total sweat. And—he looked great, girls!  Rossdale posed with Chris Traynor on guitar, who was also “working it” for the photographers.

Overall, the Revolution 3 Tour is possibly one of the best tours going around this year and it is highly recommended for all those Gen X’ers that want to remember their freewheelin’ and carefree youth–before the bills and diapers stepped in.

 

SET LIST-The Cult

 

Wild Flower

Rain

Spiritwalker

The Witch

Sweet Soul Sister

Elemental Light

Rise

She Sells Sanctuary

The Phoenix

Fire Woman

Love Removal Machine

 

SET LIST-Stone Temple Pilot

 

Wicked Garden

Vasoline

Big Bang Baby

Down

Big Empty

Plus

Meadow

Interstate Love Song

Roll Me Under

Dead & Bloated

Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart

Sex Type Thing

 

SET LIST-Bush

Machinehead

This Is War

Everything Zen

The People That We Love

Swallowed

The Sound of Winter

Come Together

Glycerine

Little Things

Comedown

Chyrisse Tabone, Ph.D.
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