Everclear Show Focuses On Second, Third Albums

The Mod Club

Toronto

on Oct 19 2009

Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

10/20/2009 1:30am

The Mod Club is poor at letting people know about opening acts and set times on its website and in its advertisements.

So when I arrived just after 9 p.m. and was told Tracy Lyons was on stage, Paper Tongues would follow and Everclear wouldn't go on until after 10:30, I beat a retreat across the street to Metro to buy some groceries. Everclear frontman Art Alexakis had the same idea, as I saw him leaving the store with a bag that he took to his tour bus.

After going home, putting my food away and returning to the club, it looked like a lot of other people skipped the two openers, too. But the relatively sparse crowd started to grow by the time Everclear hit the stage at 10:55.

The band opened with the title track of 1997's So Much For The Afterglow. While Alexakis' voice was mixed too low, the audience didn't seem to care. Things were sounding better for the second song, "Amphetamine," which is also from the group's third and most successful album.

Everclear went back one LP to 1995's Sparkle And Fade breakthrough album for energetic runs through "Heroin Girl" and "Heartspark Dollarsign." Alexakis had "PORTLAND, OR" emblazoned in red sparkles on his black Les Paul guitar and he further paid tribute to his hometown by playing "Portland Rain."

Alexakis switched to acoustic guitar for "Song From An American Movie, Pt. 2" and the rest of the new band he assembled for this tour left him alone on stage for an acoustic cover of Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl." The crowd sang along because, really, who doesn't know at least the chorus to that old chestnut? But it was pretty weak.

Alexakis engaged the audience frequently throughout the night. He introduced "At The End Of The Day" from the newly released In A Different Light by saying that he'd written it a few years earlier but didn't decide to record it until he spent three weeks in Iraq last year, which gave the song a new meaning and more relevance to him.

"A.M. Radio" turned into another singalong and then the group did about 30 seconds of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" before stopping. They then did 30 seconds of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" before Alexakis declared "I'm not playing that fuckin' racist song" and launched into a sterling rendition of "Volvo Driving Soccer Mom."

There was another halt during "Wonderful" as Alexakis said he was freaked out by the bubbles that started raining down from the club ceiling at the start of the song. They did it from the start again and ended their hour-long set with another crowd favourite and Everclear's first big hit, "Santa Monica."

The encore was composed of three more So Much For The Afterglow songs: "White Men In Black Suits," "Everything To Everyone" and "I Will Buy You A New Life."

Rhythm guitarist Johnny Hawthorn had a couple of impressive solos over the course of the set, the rhythm section of drummer Jordan Plosky and bassist Freddy Herrera was solid, but keyboardist Sasha Smith's contributions went largely unnoticed, with a few subtle exceptions.

Alexakis — rings in both ears, arms covered in tattoos and hair dyed bleach blonde — looked happy and healthy. Considering the 47-year-old's major drug problems early in his life, it's great to see him looking so fit.

But he wasn't the same frontman that totally kicked my ass with his performance when I saw Everclear at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern around the time that Sparkle And Fade was released. While he had beat his drug habit by then, he still seemed totally on the edge.

There was obviously a lot of irony in the title of last year's covers album, The Vegas Years. But it can't be denied that Alexakis now has some of the rehearsed stage mannerisms you'd expect to find on lounge stages in the Nevada tourist mecca.

So while I'm glad that all the 20-somethings near the stage who were losing their shit throughout the hit-filled set had such a great time, it's just too bad that they couldn't have seen Alexakis at his peak.