Having already got 31 overseas tour dates under their belt, featuring their latest album God of Angels Trust Volbeat are back after three years with a series of six UK dates for their Greatest of All Tours Worldwide, which kicked off last night in Nottingham.
Stepping into the Motorpoint Arena, early arrivals were treated to something genuinely special. Witch Fever, the Manchester-based quartet, has been steadily building a reputation as one of the UK’s most ferocious live acts. What made Witch Fever particularly compelling for me was their ability to channel raw fury into tightly controlled sonic assaults. Their 30-minute set consisted largely of material from Fevereaten, which was released at the very end of October and onstage, I felt they had the anger of Kittie but the swagger and attitude of Hole. They certainly made another fan tonight. I texted my wife not only to tell her how good they were, but also to say that my entire journey home was spent checking out all their material.
Bush really needs no introduction, well, to anyone who experienced rock radio in the mid-to-late 1990s, and for those who grew up with “Sixteen Stone” and “Razorblade Suitcase” as soundtrack staples, seeing Gavin Rossdale and company in 2025 carries a certain emotional weight. This isn’t merely nostalgia service but rather a testament to Bush’s ability to remain relevant and vital nearly three decades after their breakthrough.
Rossdale, at 60, remains a magnetic frontman with the kind of stage presence that can command arena spaces. His voice has aged gracefully, gaining character and grit while maintaining the melodic sensibility that made songs like “Glycerine” and “Swallowed”, the latter of which has an absolutely wonderful arrangement that I had never heard before, which was made even more captivating with all the lights and audience participation — a real heartswelling moment that will stay with me for a while
What typically makes a Bush arena performance particularly effective is the band’s understanding of pacing and crowd engagement. They recognise that their audience spans generations — original fans now in their 40s and 50s who remember watching the “Everything Zen” video on MTV. As I type this, I now realise that “Razorblade Suitcase” was released in 1996, and I am now this demographic, and yes, it was wonderful to step back for a moment, but to also acknowledge that I really need to check out how the band have evolved in that time, as tonight they were flawless.
There’s a palpable shift in the room’s energy. This is what the majority of the crowd came for, and the anticipation is almost physical in its intensity. Volbeat has spent years perfecting their show, evolving from a Danish rockabilly-metal curiosity into one of Europe’s biggest rock exports, and their live production reflects that journey.
Michael Poulsen emerges as the show’s focal point — a frontman who combines Johnny Cash’s outlaw charisma with James Hetfield’s rhythmic guitar precision and his own distinctively accented vocal delivery. It’s a combination that shouldn’t work as well as it does, but Volbeat’s entire career has been built on unlikely fusions: rockabilly and thrash metal, Elvis and Metallica, vintage Americana and Scandinavian heaviness.
The setlist construction felt effortless, drawing on material with new, heavier leanings such as “By a Monsters Hand” to absolute anthems such as “Lola Montez” and “Fallen”, and with the high production levels of an arena, it just elevated every track to a new level.
There was, of course, the audience participation, the huge sing-alongs, especially on “Time Will Heal” and the really touching moment where the younger generation were invited on stage for “Still Counting” and the band interacted with every single one of them, stopping for selfies and creating some great memories. I can tell you this – there wasn’t a member of that audience that minded as it was a great thing to see and by the end of the show there was certainly a unity that, cliche as may sound, leaving felt like being part of huge family. The band’s impressive discography actually paled compared to their passion and delivery onstage.
Photos by Sean Larkin Photography
