SUMMERLAND TOUR: EVERCLEAR, SPONGE, LIVE, FILTER (SHOW REVIEW)
Art Alexakis may not be a paradigm of business savvy as far managing his own personal finances. In 2005, the lead singer of Everclear owed over two million dollars in unpaid taxes to the IRS, had maxed out all of his credit lines, and declared bankruptcy, forcing him to sell all of the rights to the entire Everclear catalogue. Despite his all of this, Art has shown resilience and is now the the brainchild of the nascent and successful Summer Land Tour series. Summer Land is an annual tour that touts some of the 90’s biggest rock names, best served in the summer time with a heavy dose of nostalgia. Last year’s tour featured old MTV-regulars Sugar Ray, Lit, Marcy Playground, and Gin Blossoms while this Saturday’s lineup continues the 90’s heroes parade with Sponge, Live, Filter, and headliner Everclear.
The tour kicked off with the Detroit-based Sponge, who unexpectedly poured on a high-octane set that boasted more hits than the audience had probably remembered them having. Songs that were popular twenty years ago like ‘Molly’ and ‘Wax Ecstatic’ quickly resonated with the crowd, setting off a chain reaction of friends whispering friends that they actually ‘did in fact’ know the band that was playing onstage. Sponge played a monstrous set that ended with their tour-de-force anthem ‘Plowed’ and set ACL Live abuzz very early into the night.
The band that followed, failed to carry the momentum set by Sponge and opted to turn their set into a self-centered bid for most dominant 90’s band on the bill. Filter, a band formed in 1993 by ex-Nine Inch Nail’s guitarist Neil Patrick, took the stage and immediately began to act like a disaffected has-been cliche, saying things like, “Well, here we go with our thirty minute set” with heavy sarcasm. “You guys would show up if we played a two hour show wouldn’t you?” The new lineup backing Patrick seemed to be going begrudgingly through the motions on many songs, notably on their big hit ‘Take A Picture’. Before launching into the NIN-esque ‘Hey Man, Nice Shot’, Patrick asked the audience to “Come to the merchandise table and buy something, maybe I’ll sign it for you.” Leaving the stage on a memorably douchey note.
Ed Kowalczyk may have left Live in 2009, but his departure didn’t stymie the overwhelming demand for the mid-90’s anthems that he and his band members wrote two decades ago. Chris Shinn, former United Theory frontman and son of New Orleans Pelican’s owner George Shinn, was a seamless replacement for Ed’s pained yet emboldened vocals on Saturday night. The set kickedoff with two juggernauts of songs off of 1994’s Throwing Copper, ‘All Over You’ and ‘Selling the Drama’, which left no dubiousness as to quality of sound the new lineup would bring. The band worked through songs off of other albums like ‘Lakinis Juice and ‘Operation Spirit’ but the crowd was secretly holding their breath for Throwing Copper anthems like ‘Lightning Crashes’ and ‘I Alone’ which shook the venue to its foundations. Live was as formidable as ever, even without the erratic sufism of Kowalczyk.
Art Alexakis, who had emceed and assumed the role of ringmaster for this 90’s alt-rock circus, finally got his turn onstage to demonstrate that Everclear was the heavyweight champ of 90’s nostalgia rock. Blasting through ‘So Much For The Afterglow’ and ‘Father Of Mine’, the crowd sung along to every word and could easily latch onto their happy memories and personal meanings attached with the songs that first graced radio airwaves in the mid-90’s. The fun-loving West Coast nature of Everclear helped release the gravity that had been instilled by Live’s powerful set. Songs likes ‘I Will Buy You New Life’ and ‘AM Radio’ emanated a community-like and campy atmosphere with everyone swaying ‘Santa Monica’ to finish out the soul warming set.
Art thanked the crowd and each of the bands that had performed that night like a true showman and bowed off stage, not without of course, insinuating a return of Summer Land in 2014. The dazed crowd filed out of their air-conditioned 90’s music bubble of nostalgia and back into the humid reality of 2013. Summer Land may seem like a traveling roadshow of fading bands in a struggle to remain relevant but the fact stands that thesebands ‘play the hits’, and are dedicated to pleasing the crowd, coincidentally making this show one of the most exciting this summer.
