EVERCLEAR have been over in NZ doing a number of larger events around the country, and snuck in a couple of club shows in Wellington and Sydney in the middle of the tour. Recently over in Australia for the 30th Anniversary tour of Sparkle & Fade and regular visitors to this part of the world, word got out and the Tuning Fork was crammed on a warm Auckland night.
Wellington charismatic indie act SURE BOY got the chance to open the show, and delivered a catchy set of indie-pop, driven by the bass and drums of Lily Fulton and Freyja Appleyard, with front-lady Beth Stewart very much at home on the stage, until she realised that Art Alexakis from the main act was sitting at the back of the stage to watch their set! The guitars from Simone McCarthy are gritty but melodic, and the band went down really well in the room, and four years in to their career, have a bright future.
SURE BOY GALLERY
EVERCLEAR bounced onto the stage, looking more like a grunge-rock outfit than ever – ageing somewhat disgracefully you might say, and smashed right into So Much For The Afterglow, followed by Everything to Everyone and the seminal Heroin Girl. Davey French is more of a guitar hero than ever, and Freddy Herrera plays the happy sidesman, flinging his bass around on the strap. We got almost all of the hits – Art apologising for his partially lost voice, so there a couple of favourites he couldn’t handle.
Standouts were Wonderful and the intro to, and epic rendition of AM Radio, followed by a brutal rendition of one of my all time faves, El Distorto – Art’s ironic intro stating these were his favourite lyrics!
The band threw in some Iron Maiden riffage, a snippet of Bowie and a thunderous Led Zep riff seeing Brian Nolan pounding the kit, and there was lots of banter with the enthusiastic crowd – even a chorus of Happy Birthday for Liz in the front row.
The band rolled through Local God, Twist Inside and the punky Amphetamine from where it all began, before closing out with New Life, Summerland and the wonderful Santa Monica.
This band is one that gets the audience smiling from the start, and they were all still smiling at the end of the show – Art remarked that EVERCLEAR will be back Down Under in Nov / Dec in Australia, and would do their best to get back over to NZ at the same time. We can’t wait.
EVERCLEAR GALLERY
All image Credit: Inside Edge Photography
