virtual festivals - MTV 5 Night Stand 05 - 09 May 2000 (may 2000)

REVIEW: (Tuesday, 09 May) BUSH SoulWax + Muse SoulWax There are imitators and innovators and ironically, tonight's only real innovators, the Belgian DJ rockers Soulwax, did a cracking imitation (pisstake, if you may) of pop boyband, Backstreet Boys', 'Everybody'. It is one thing to imitate in a purposeful, playful manner, and another to '-elasticasize-', a song or band. Having an influence is one thing, but having an influence in court with you is another. Soulwax have their influences - Led Zeppelin, Add N to X, they also have an electro-riff-rock-hiphop sound persona, and an entertaining stage presence that sets them apart entirely from the pack tonight. Muse Fresh from the US, after supporting dates with rock gods Foo-Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers, possible pretenders to the 'Bush' throne of grunge 'ditto-rock', Muse did an amiable job fitting nicely into MTV's last of the 5 nighters, or with the exception of Soulwax, a 'A Brit Tribute To Grunge, Night.' Bush Subliminal cover band, Bush, AKA, 'The Graverobbers of Grunge' have struck again tonight. Not even pioneers like Pearl Jam, or the late Soundgarden, were playing this stuff anymore, it's like seeing someone walking down the street wearing one of those skinny ties, from the Huey Lewis era. But... hey, Bush are millionaires, so I guess that makes them a success...when it comes to making money. I realise these guys are loved by millions, as are The Backstreet Boys, there are more similarities between the two than you would think. There's nothing wrong with Bush, really, or with The Backstreet Boys [highly debatable! - Ed]. Though when it comes to 'a critical appraisal' of re-manufactured entertainment, it's almost not worth the effort. To review Bush, is admittedly quite easy, because you can easily draw almost note for note parallels with anything related to 'grunge'... OK let's try it out, Bush's opening song of the night, which was basically another version of Stone Temple Pilots', 'Sex Type Thing', with a cross between Kurt and Eddy on vocals. Bush's 'Heaven is on the Way'- see Nirvana's 'Something in the way', Bush's crowd pleaser, 'Everything Zen'- see Neil Young's 'Keep On Rockin' In The Free World'. These guys must have amazing lawyers. The problem is why listen to a copy of the real thing, when the real thing is just a couple of CD rows away. © 2000 LAJackson

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