I'm so far behind on concert reviews that I'm making these all very short. Starting with this Everclear show that my buddies Nazz, A-Bomb, Melanie and I went to at the Fan Park in the Ice District in Edmonton. A venue I had never been to before, all it is, is a big tent outside of Rogers Place. I was surprised that the sound was actually much better than I was expecting. I was also surprised by the small turnout for this show, but with it being on a Sunday and the price of tickets, I guess I shouldn't have been. Eighty plus dollars for Everclear is just way too much. Thankfully I had won tickets to this show, otherwise I would have passed, having just seen Everclear in April last year. This wold be my third time seeing them in concert.
The first band of the night was a local alt-rock band Hungry Hollow, who apparently have been around since 2013. Never heard of them before, they have a very 90's alternative rock sound reminiscent of bands like Third Eye Blind, 3 Doors Down among other shitty bands. They did nothing for me at all, just very generic sounding.
Next up was another local act, this being Lucette (Lauren Gillis). I had never seen her perform but had heard good things about her and her band, so i was looking forward to seeing her. Not sure how to describe her music, kind of a pop alt rock with a dash of country. She recently released an EP called Nice Girl From The Suburbs. She has worked with producers Dave Cobb and Sturgill Simpson, pretty damn impressive, I say.
Her set was quite good, I enjoyed it. I didn't realize that she played keyboards, she has a great voice and am a fan of her writing. Overall I thought she was excellent and would certainly go to see her again. Speaking of, she has a show happening Thursday October 16th at the Temple here in Edmonton.
Next up was headliner Everclear. By the time Everclear came on the place had filled up a bit more, but still a smaller crowd. The band led by Art Alexakis on vocals and guitar opened with "So Much For The Afterglow" and then "Everything To Everyone", both from So Much For The Afterglow. Most of their set was made up of songs from said album and Sparkle And Fade which is celebrating it's 30th anniversary. Both those albums have stood the test of time, they sound great, live the songs sounded good as well, though I found it just didn't pack the punch Art once did, but then Alex is getting older too (63 years old), and found that he missed a lyric here and there during the show.
I was surprised to hear them do the Van Morrison song "Brown Eyed Girl", I think this is the third band this summer I have heard cover a Van Morrison song, kind of weird. Everclear did a great rocking version of it. And of course the band closed with their biggest hit "Santa Monica". Good times!!!
