Everything is wonderful with Everclear
Everything is Wonderful with Everclear
Photography and Story by : Jim Brown
Everclear – August Hall – San Francisco
Everclear, the iconic 90s band that had a large contribution to the generation X soundtrack, made a tour stop at San Francisco’s iconic August Hall to play to another sold out crowd and Music Fan Magazine was lucky enough to be in the room.
Touring with two other 90’s era staples, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack and Marcy Playground, pre-Everclear appetizers like “Sex and Candy” did the job of prepping the crowd for an evening of time travel. Is there anyone that doesn’t know the chorus to that song? Doubt it.
Everclear must have been thrilled to be playing in San Francisco again, not far from the old stomping grounds of band leader Art Alexakis and the burgeoning cowpunk scene in the early 80s Bay Area. Together with bandmates Freddy Herrera, Dave French and Brian Nolan, the Everclear set on this night would prove to be a proper recounting all the band’s hits with some sprinkled-in storytelling of how they were made.
From the moment Art and the band took the stage to the copious handouts of picks and sticks at the end of their set, Everclear had the crowd completely encapsulated—especially the teenagers that wormed their way to the front of the general admission crowd — ahh those were the days. They will certainly have a story to tell at school tomorrow and if they wear their Everclear tour shirt, I’m sure each will elevate their social status on the quad.
There are plenty of other sources on the line if you want to learn the backstory how Everclear became the leader of the golden MTV era with hits like “Santa Monica” and “Father of Mine,” but I’d like to tell you how their music makes you feel when you're standing five feet away from guitarist Dave and his wicked licks.
Everclear hits hard. No, Art isn’t jumping off the drum kit and nobody is sending a three-row deep stage dive, not these days, but the music is just so well-played it explodes like a grenade. As soon as Brian slaps the snare for the laydown beat on “Wonderful,” everyone is in sync and for at least a few of us, we drifted back to that unforgettable road trip taken with that special someone while Everclear was playing on AM Radio. Or the legendary kegger at Mike’s place cause his parents were out of town. (sorry Mr. and Mrs. Riley) The point is that some songs and certain bands can snap you back in time and Everclear does that easily, let's go!
Everclear’s music has a way of recalling memories that have been in deep storage for years. Art’s voice is seemingly unchanged, even if the longer blonde hair is gone, his essence is not. Neither is his style as he rocked a classic pair of Chucky Taylors, black jeans and a black T-shirt with a tiger on it. A tiger. I don’t know why that's important. I guess it was because people over 40 are encouraged to buy shirts that go UnTucked, or khakis that you don’t have to iron. Art doesn't subscribe to that.
And how does he sound? Well, the best way I can describe his voice is like cleaning a crystal vase with 120-grit sandpaper, resulting in an instantly recognizable crunchy raspiness yet absolutely perfect at its foundation. The songs sounded more or less the same as my 20-year-old CDs. Not easy to do, I imagine. Art’s voice when combined with the steady hands of the drums and punchy bass lines—well, that's the hit I was hoping for. No pyrotechnics. No movie screen behind the band playing old music videos. It was pure Everclear with no filter and they sounded fantastic. They sounded like lifetime friends that were giving the customers at August Hall a special peek inside their weekly garage band practice. Casual and chatty between songs, we learned a lot about the band, and Art.
Overcoming addiction was discussed. As Everclear leaned into the message that everything is actually wonderful, Art was quick to acknowledge sobriety, and that it had been his partner for a long long time. I’m glad the Gen Z and younger crowd was here to hear this directly from the band, it's a good message no matter who is delivering it. As Art drifted into “Strawberry,” he reminded us that the journey of sobriety isn’t for everyone or even really that easy for those that take it. But as long as you don’t fall down, you’ll be fine. By the way, sick drum work on that song, thanks Brian.
Sure, the history of the band is deep and riddled with challenges associated with growing into one of the most popular groups back in the day, some of which seems too far for regular joes to come back from. All those curiosities disappear as soon as Art and the boys hit the first notes of “Heroine Girl” and “Everything to Everyone.” However they did it, Everclear has sustained a high level of musicianship and fanbase for a long long time.
Everclear gets deeper into the set and are still sounding fantastic, the venue isn’t harming the sound engineer’s effort at all, he seems pretty happy (check photos at the bottom of the page) it just sounds great tonight. That’s the best part of a small venue rather than the big festival space, I can’t find a bad place in the joint as I find different spots to stand. Freddy is swinging his bass around like he is in a fist fight at the backdoor of the Whisky-A- GoGo, glad that strap was triple stitched! I’ll never understand how musicians play, sing, and remember the lyrics and find the time to horse around with the jumping and such. Really great talent displayed here tonight.
Hearing them live for the first time was quite a different rush. And hearing the story behind the songs was really, really special. Art explained the genesis of “I Will Buy You a New Life” and it was especially heavy now that I’m a father myself. Hearing Art belt it out was a punch to the gut. I think most of us can appreciate Everclear and their roots as regular guys that got the same dice roll as the rest of us did. The big difference is they made gold records out of the lemons they were handed.
The set is wrapping up about 90 minutes in and I’m okay with that because I can tell the thrashing about has done a number on my body, which isn’t 20 years old anymore. Hope I have enough aspirin at home. Art and the band are handing out all kinds of trinkets from the stage, and the front row teenagers got some well-deserved guitar picks, drum sticks and a high five from the band. They are now legends at their middle school, very cool.
If you get a chance to see Everclear, do it. If you can’t see them in concert that's ok so long as you buy their LP “Live at the Whiskey,” released not long ago. Music Fan Magazine has a copy at the office, and it sounds 88.5 percent the same as tonight's set. Get a copy.
Thanks to the band and the label for the opportunity to attend a great show!
Music Fan Meters:
Smoke Meter: Yea no smoke here except from Brians drum kit.
Fight Meter: Not this time, while the bands alt-punk-rock sound may have kicked off a dust up years ago, that was probably fueled more by Budweiser than anything else. Everclears music isn't fight-centric like a Five Finger Death Punch show. Thank goodness, I can't go back to the greybar hotel again.
Sing Along Meter: Every word, every song. Hey Art, can you get the crowd some vocal credits on the next album?