Everclear
July 18, 2015
Concrete Street Amphitheater- Corpus Christi, TX
It was a hot day pulling into Corpus Christi, Texas’s very own Concrete Street Amphitheater. The front gates opened at 6:30 pm and fans of all ages were filing into the venue eight-by-eight. Scouring the crowd, a lot of familiar faces began to let their selves be known via head-nods, handshakes & brief conversations on the night’s event with the four phenomenal bands preparing to take stage and entertain the masses in attendance this amazing evening. Everclear’s front-man, Art Alexakis took to the stage and began the evening by introducing the tour and lineup. To the fans enjoyment, Alexakis speaks to the audience with the ease of a seasoned motivational speaker as he sends the crowd into laughter speaking about his recent bromance with American Hi-Fi front-man, Stacy Jones. As the laughter died down, Art explained how, Jones will be playing drums for Everclear this fine evening & ended the introduction by introducing American Hi-Fi…
Stacy Jones, is a multifaceted singer, songwriter, guitarist & record producer; as well as being the Musical Director & Drummer for Miley Cyrus & Life of Dillon… Jones, also drummed for 90’s Alternative rock acts like Veruka Salt & Letters to Cleo. Can you say WOW!? A majorly talented individual here Ladies and Gentlemen! Jones walked out on stage followed by the rest of the band; as the crowd cheered the American Hi-Fi on. American Hi-Fi began their seven song set list with phenomenal intro by late, great punker Wesley Willlis with Rock ‘n’ Roll McDonalds. American Hi-Fi then performed Teenage Alien Nation… Teenage Alien Nation, is the 6th track off American Hi-Fi’s 2nd studio album; released February of 2003. The crowd responded well to the bands performance cheering the whole time & singing the lyrics right along with the band verbatim. American Hi-Fi kept cranking off hit after hit, ending their 
amazing set with, Flavor of The Week.
Time passed as American Hi-Fi’s gear was being taken off the stage. The fans in attendance took advantage of the elapsing time and made way to the concessions to hydrate & merch-centers to purchase the products featuring their favorite bands of the evening… Art Alexakis, walked back out on stage with mic in hand; engaging the crowd in more conversation & questions pertaining to the evenings events so far. Art then introduced Fuel to the crowd. Guitarist, Andy Andersson, walked onto the stage via stage right dressed primarily in denim & the crowd lost it, with excitement… Fuel opened up with Untitled, the first track off Fuel’s debut album Sunburn. Sunburn certified Platinum by the RIAA board on May 2nd, 2000 selling over 1 million units… After Untitled; front-man, Brett Scallions took off his sweat drenched shirt; in proclamation to the hot, humid Southern Texas weather. Causing the women in the crowd (And some of the Men) to erupt in cheers, catcalls and whistles… Time for Me to Stop continued Fuel’s night. Time for Me to Stop was the 4th track off the bands 5th studio album, Puppet Strings… Continuing in succession the band played Bad Day. Bad Day was released on the band’s 2nd studio album Something like Human. The album itself peaked at #17 on Billboard’s Top 200, & went Double-Platinum on September 25th of 2001. As well as being certified Gold with 50,000 units sold in Canada; June of 2001. To date the album is Fuel’s top selling record… In rapid sequacious, with chart topping hits like Shimmer; Puppet Strings; Soul to Preach To & ending their amazing set with their #1 bestselling hit single Hemorrhage (In My Hands)…
After Fuel’s equipment was taken off stage, to the crowd’s surprise; Stacy Jones walked out from stage left. Jones grabbed the mic and introduced the band Everclear, and took his place behind Everclear’s Drumset… Front-man Art Alexakis, walked out with guitar in hand; raising it high in the air to greet the eager crowd. The crowd returned the favor & greeted Art, with cheers so loud it sounded like a freight train barreling down the tracks at top speed. “This is a Rock ‘n’ Roll Show!” Art, said to the crowd. The crowd cheered him on and he said it again but this time adding a little more emphasis to it. THIS IS A ROCK ‘n’ FUCKIN ROLL SHOW!” Again the crowd’s cheers roared even louder than before… Without hesitation, the band opened up their set with the title-track So Much for the Afterglow. The album itself, peaked at No. 33 on The Billboard 200 while the singles off the Album were peaking at No.1 No.3; & No.4 on Billboards Modern Rock Tracks… Directly after So Much for the Afterglow, the band played their #1 single off the album & blew the crowd away with a more than phenomenal performance of Everything to Everyone, followed by Heroin Girl, off the bands 2nd studio album Sparkle and Fade… Sparkle and Fade peaked at No. 25 while going Platinum in both US & Canada…
Everclear then treated the crowd with two new hits off the album Black is the New Black, with American Monster, & The Man Who Broke His Own Heart. American Monster, is a deeper, darker, crunchier big ditty. The total opposite of the poppy alternative rock sound the multi-platinum selling band introduced to the masses in the early 90’s. As well as The Man Who Broke His Own Heart. Does this matter? HELL NO! This is Everclear we’re talking about here. They tend to kick a lot of ass no matter what they are playing. At this point the crowd was cheering nonstop, enthralled in pure ecstasy by the amazing performance, Everclear put on. Following the two brand new singles, Everclear continued the set with more non-stop hits. Killing it with hits like Wonderful; Father of Mine; I Will Buy You a New Life. For the last song of the evening, Art Alexakis brought out members from the Fuel & American Hi-Fi to help the band perform their No. 1 hit single Santa Monica. When the song ended the members of each band embraced each other with an encouraging hug, pats on the back, high-fives & loads of laughter.
After the stage was vacated and a little more time passed, the stage lights dimmed. Over the loud speakers played We’re From Texas, by Eleven Hundred Springs. The music slowly faded and Toadies, took to the stage with Vaden Todd Lewis leading the pack. The band opened their set with the haut rocker Rattlers Revival, the 1st of 13 amazing songs This unrivaled hit is the first track off the bands 5th studio album, Play.Rock.Music, released in July of 2012. The live execution of this phenomenal track had the crowd propitiously cheering & with good reason. Backslider continued the set followed by Push The Hand & Mexican Hairless. Mexican Hairless was released as the first track off the RIIA certified Platinum album Rubberneck, against the wishes of the Record label, in fear consumers would hear the instrumental track and return the album believing it was broke…
Toadies continued their night playing hit after hit. Hits like, I Come from the Water; I Am a Man of Stone; and acoustically knocking the crowd out with In the Belly of a Whale. The band followed up In the Belly of a Whale with I Burn… I Burn started as it does on the album with Vaden, strumming the acoustic guitar. As soon as the crowd heard the first few strums they knew exactly what they were being treated with & lost it with excited joy, screaming louder and louder as the song continued. As the song begins to reach it’s peak in volume point two more percussionists brought out 2 floor toms, 2 snare drums and began pounding out the beat in syncopation with drummer, Mark Reznice. The musical goodness didn’t stop there. Not at all ladies & germs… The band continued with their No. 1 hit single Possum Kingdom, sending the crowd into even louder screams than before. Ending the night, Toadies played Hell in High Water. Walking off the stage the crowd cheered them on. Louder & louder they cheered “toadies, Toadies, TOADIES! To the surprise of the crowd, Toadies came back on stage to perform a 2 song encore. Truly bringing the night to a close with Away & my personal favorite Tyler. Tyler was performed with such precision that it left me and about 4000 other screaming fans in mouth dropping awe… Boys & Girls you must catch the heat when Summerland pulls into your City or Town SOON!.. This concert is a 10 out of 10!
Review by: Jared Wingate
American Hi-Fi
Fuel
Everclear
Toadies
