Was hard rock easy choice for Rossdale?

Institute will be in concert tonight at Headliners, 4500 North Detroit Ave. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20. Information: 419-269-4500.

Rocker Gavin Rossdale sums up the last few years of his life with sly understatement: Well, I got married, I lost a band, and I gained a band.

Each of those transitions was a notable event in the rock music and celebrity worlds.

As many music fans and star watchers know, Rossdale married his longtime girlfriend, singer Gwen Stefani of No Doubt fame, on Sept. 9, 2002.

In 2003, the London-born rocker s multimillion-selling band, Bush, split up, and last year Rossdale formed a new group, Institute, which comes to Toledo tonight for a show at Headliners.

Bush, a guitar-powered British rock group, leaped to stardom with its 1995 major-label debut, Sixteen Stone, selling 8 million copies and producing such hits as Everything Zen, Glycerine, Comedown, and Machinehead.

When guitarist Nigel Pulsford decided to stop touring after the 2001 album, Golden State, he was replaced with guitarist Chris Traynor, but eventually Bush burned out.

Pulsford s departure forced Rossdale into making some important career choices.

I had to decide if I was going to do the sensitive solo record, or should I go and try to take it one step further and make the music harder? Rossdale says in his record company bio.

Rossdale, who turned 38 on Sunday, decided to skip the sensitive solo artist route and follow the hard-rock path, forming Institute. The high-powered group features Rossdale on guitar and vocals, Traynor on guitar, Cache Tolman on bass, and Charlie Walker on drums.

Institute released its debut disc, Distort Yourself, this year on the Interscope label and, in addition to headlining club shows like tonight s Headliners gig, is opening some dates on U2 s Vertigo 2005 tour, including concerts in Detroit, Atlanta, and Miami.

Institute will be in concert tonight at Headliners, 4500 North Detroit Ave. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20. Information: 419-269-4500.