Bush • Mammoth • James and The Cold Gun • May 1, 2026 • The Complex
Reviewed and Photographed by Amelia Weyerstall
Bush played a nearly sold-out show at the Complex in Salt Lake City with opening acts Mammoth and James and the Cold Gun, after the show had been moved from the Maverik Center.
James and The Cold Gun
James and the Cold Gun gave everything to come out and play for the SLC crowd at the complex, and welcomed the fans to the show by saying, “This is beautiful, thank you for coming out early, we’re a band called James and the Cold Gun, all the way from Wales in the UK. We have one job and one job only. And that’s to get you guys ready for Bush. Let’s have some fun.” They gave the fans some fun and definitely got them jumping around and ready for Mammoth and Bush.
The band loved the Salt Lake crowd as much as the fans loved them. With lead singer James Joseph saying, “Salt Lake City how are we feeling? Real rock music is alive in 2026. (after the crowd started cheering loudly ) I know every band commonly says this, this might be the best show the whole f*cking tour, make some noise for yourself. We’re gonna keep things moving. The song is called “Twist The Knife”” this song was a fan favorite of the crowds, and had them screaming along to the lyrics.
James and the Cold Gun was very grateful to be able to play for the Salt Lake audience, “Ill tell you what guys, youre f**king amazing you know that, we’ve spent every penny we have to be part of this tour, bands from the uk have to pay thousands of dollars on visas and stuff to even come into your country, and sometimes its hard, but its so worth it.”
They continued saying, “In case you’ve just walked in, we are james and the cold gun all the way from wales in the Uk, and in the last 5 years we’ve spent all our time playing across europe and the uk, to about 15 people per night, so it’s good to be on this side of the world playing to thousands of you. It’s a dream come true, so thank you, this song is called “Fragile”” this were a few of the very sweet moments from the band showing their love to the SLC crowd that was now filling up the Complex.
Not only did the band put on a great show, but also were inspiring to young artists in the crowd. Joseph said, “Salt Lake City we would love for you to give a warm welcome to Gaby Elise on the bass, Gaby is one of the most bad *ss women I’ve ever met, and I’m so glad I get to be in a band with her, if you’re a young woman in this audience and you want to start a band, tonight is the f*cking night, don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it.” It was a very inspiring way to end the night and I saw it make a few kids in the crowd smile.
Mammoth
Mammoth is no stranger to Salt Lake City,“What’s up! I got to represent (SL tee,) For those of you who don’t know, this is like a second home to me, my wife is from Salt Lake, thanks for the welcome home, it’s very nice. If you are unaware of who we are and can’t read, we’re that (points toward sign that says Mammoth), we’re Mammoth, and we are like to play loud, rock and roll music, and we’re gonna keep doing that with this next one called “The Spell””
Mammoth had an even more heavy rock and roll feel than James and the Cold Gun, but still had the crowd headbanging along, clapping, and borderline moshing to the songs. Teasing some of the reasons their on tour, frontman, Wolfgang Van Halen, said, “
The first reason we are here is because the incredible Bush asked us to come along! Give it up for f*cking Bush!” to which the crowd cheered wildly, and Van Halen followed up by saying, “The other reason is cause we released a new album called “The End” back in October, I don’t know if you are familiar with it? Thank you for paying attention. We’ve already played a couple of new ones, but we’re gonna play a couple more, this one’s called “Happy”” To which the crowd knew every word to this hit, and were excited to hear it live for the first time in Salt Lake.
Salt Lake City had its own nod to the Mammoth name, while some people in the crowd were wearing merch from the band Mammoth, many in the crowd were wearing Utah hockey team Mammoth jerseys or hats. A fun and very uniquely Utah way to show support to the band.
Mammoth was very kind at showing their support for the other bands on the bill, when talking to the crowd, “Salt Lake are you still with us? (crowd cheered in response) I wanna here you guys get extra f*cking loud for James and the Cold Gun! And they’ll hear you if you’re loud enough, who’s ready for Bush!” to which the crowd cheered even louder than when they were asked if they were still there. The crowd was absolutely loving Mammoth.
Bush
Bush had the crowd jumping all around, people dancing about, of course singing along, and had some very special fan moments throughout the show. Lead singer and frontman Gavin Rossendale started the night off by saying, “I’m so very happy to be with you here tonight, play some music and have some friends, and I thank you for all this energy, we love it. Let’s do this one.” which had the crowd cheering.
Bush had some very special VIP guests who had the chance to come up into the photo pit for a couple of songs, to which Rosendale reached out and was grabbing their hands. Later in the night, during one of their last songs, Rossendale decided to go out into the crowd with his mic and sing while moving about the crowd and giving people and fans he passed by hugs along the way. It was very sweet and included the back of the crowd who may have not seen him up close on stage, to experience him and the performance from where they were.
Rock Alt band Bush was a huge hit in the 90’s and the fans that grew up on them came to the show to see their favorite artist play, along with bringing their family with them. Little kids were dancing around the back of the crowd with their parents, long term fans of the band were headbanging along, everyone was clearly having a fun time. It was also very easy to see the band, in particular the drummer of Bush even from the back of the crowd, as he was playing on a raised platform 10 feet above the already high up stage, a very unique setup for a band to be playing on.
Bush played all of their hits, while also playing a few songs from their latest album/ release, that came out in 2026, “I Beat Loneliness” which the crowd knew the lyrics to just as much as they knew the older hits. They ended the show off by playing one of their biggest hits, “Comedown” the perfect way to comedown from the incredible show.
