Headlined by Everclear, the show opened with Vertical Horizon and Sister Hazel. If you listened to FM radio in the mid-'90s to early 2000s, chances are you’ve heard both.
Vertical Horizon kicked things off with a crowd that took some warming up, but by the third song, there were plenty of arms flailing in the air and people standing up from their seated tables. The band ended its set with Billboard's most-played single of 2000, the hit “Everything You Want,” with a full-fledged crowd sing-along of “I am everything you want, I am everything you need.”
Up next was Sister Hazel, which ruled the airwaves in the mid-'90s with the song “All For You.” Their 40-minute set, which included an epic saxophone solo and a crowd chant to the chorus of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” ended with their early 2000s hit “Change Your Mind.”
The crowd in the ballroom was made up of people in their 30s and older, but the bands brought out a surprising number of younger fans as well.
“We actually have been getting, strangely enough, a lot of young fans, which is bizarre,” said Everclear’s frontman, Art Alexakis, when we spoke to him a few days ahead of the show. “I think it's just some kids that want some rock 'n' roll. There's not a lot of rock 'n' roll out there right now.”
The '90s revival of the past few years — with tv show reboots, nostalgic band reunions and anniversary shows — is part of the reason for the bands' continued success, Alexakis says.
“Because it's rock 'n' roll and it's exciting," he says. "I think one of the best eras of rock 'n' roll was the '70s as far as hard rock 'n' roll guitar-based music. The '90s were kids that grew up in the '70s making records. After going through punk rock, hip-hop, Jane's Addiction, The Pixies and that indie rock of the early '90s and late '80s, that type of stuff … The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, all of the bands that I idolized growing up.
"We [in Everclear] were making melodic, aggressive, punk-influenced rock 'n' roll, just like Nirvana. Kurt and I grew up around the same time with a lot of the same influences," Alexakis adds.
Everclear started in Portland in the early '90’s, but they were all transplants from different cities.
“There was a burgeoning alternative music scene, and this is before they started throwing that alternative tag around, they were still using grunge," Alexakis says. "We didn’t really look or sound like a grunge band, really. It was all about short hair, tattoos, punk rock. Melodic with weirdness, dissonance, courtesy of Sonic Youth and the Pixies, but just rock 'n' roll. I think it appeals to younger people because there’s nothing like that right now. There's no big burgeoning scene that's coming out."
The singer says that "every now and then" he'll hear something new that he likes but that "for the most part, everyone’s trying to sound like the person next to them — 'Oh hey, what did they do, or do what they did, they had success, let's do that.' We weren't doing that in the '90s, there really was a lot of diversity on alternative radio."
"Pop music, country music, a lot of hip-hop and active rock music, it all sounds the same," he says. "It's different, but the same arrangements, same breakdowns, same vocal sounds, it all sounds Pro-Tooled. Just to hear something that sounds fresh and new to them, even though it's 20 or 25 years old, it sounds new."
Everclear opened their Statler set with the title track to 1997’s So Much For The Afterglow, followed by “Everything to Everyone” off the same record, playing a total six songs off the album. The crowd became more alive and began pogo-ing throughout the floor.
“Doesn’t it feel good to hear some rock 'n' roll on a Saturday night?” Alexakis asked the audience. “This place is fuckin’ awesome!”
The band then kicked into a set of songs off the 1995 album Sparkle and Fade, starting with “Heroin Girl" and played a good mix of songs including “Maple Fire Song” off their debut record, World of Noise. One of the highlights of the set was a totally '90s nostalgic fan request for “Local God” off 1996’s Romeo + Juliet soundtrack.
The room lit up for singles “Father of Mine,” “Wonderful” and “Buy You a New Life.” There was also an acoustic rendition of “Strawberry.” The band took no break to play an encore, but just stayed on stage after “Santa Monica” to squeeze in one last song, “Molly’s Lips,” a cover of The Vaselines.
"Pop music, country music, a lot of hip-hop and active rock music, it all sounds the same," he says. "It's different, but the same arrangements, same breakdowns, same vocal sounds, it all sounds Pro-Tooled." – Art Alexakis
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Everclear has been consistently touring and shows no signs of slowing down. Alexakis told the Observer that on occasion of the group's 30th anniversary they will be embarking on a tour where they will be joined by other contemporaries. The frontman still kicks ass on stage, and can't be slowed down, even after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and turning 60 this coming April. His writing comes from a personal place that is relatable to fans.
“I am not a Dungeons and Dragons kind of writer," he says. "I write about things I know about. I write about family, my experiences with drugs and alcohol, my sobriety, relationships; it's not all autobiographical, but it's my perspective. Even when I am writing fiction, it's coming from a place where I know what I’m talking about because that's what I enjoy. I like to write from the first person because I like storytellers."
When the singer was diagnosed with MS in 2016 he was at first selective with those with whom he shared.
"I told my friends, I told my family — even people at shows that would show up in a wheelchair, I could talk to them," he says. "Sometimes [fans] were there with MS and I'd make sure that they were on stage, so they have a place to see, but I've always done that. That’s the way I was brought up to be compassionate. I felt like there was an elephant in the room, and I knew I was going to tell people about it, but I wasn’t ready yet."
In 2018, he wrote a song called "The Hot Water Test" on his solo record, describing the difficulties of living with a disease. In early 2019, he felt like it was time to tell people.
"So, I just said, I’m going to tell my friends, family, and fans on my social media and that'll be it, but it went viral, " he says. "You’re asking me about fans reaching out to me, literally, thousands of people have reached out to me. In person, everywhere I go.”
Alexakis is working on earning a bachelor's degree in psychology and just finished a coaching course to counsel other creatives. He’s also gathering his notes to write a memoir.
Some of Alexakis’ fondest memories include “the Deep Ellum scene back in the day."
"Playing Trees ... the Bronco Bowl was really cool, we had a lot of fun," he says. " I actually lived in Houston for a while, and we used to drive up to Dallas for the clubs up there. Houston was kind of a bummer in the late '70s, early '80s. I've got really good memories, I can't really share them with you because they’re not all G-rated. I have really great memories of Texas and just having great shows there.”
