Concert Recap: Everclear in Virginia Beach, VA (9/28/2024)

At the midpoint of their nationwide tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of their Songs from an American Movie albums, the legendary alternative rock group Everclear made a visit to Virginia Beach to bring their nostalgic sound to the boardwalk. As part of the city’s 50th Annual Neptune Festival Boardwalk Weekend, the free outdoor concert had a fantastic turnout, consisting of a mix of casual festivalgoers and hardcore 90s rock fans. Whether they were standing up against the barricade, sitting in lawnchairs around the soundboards, or even spectating from the top of the parking garage across the street, everyone within a two-block radius was treated to the nostalgic alternative rock sound that this bill had to offer.

Kicking off the show was Jimmie’s Chicken Shack, who had a very favorable reception from the audience. Having arrived to the show during the later half of their set (thanks to the chaotic parking situation that comes with being at beachside events like this), it looked like many attendees had a familiarity with their music, with several people singing along to singles like “High” and “Do Right.” Aside from their diverse sound, one of the highlights of their set was the band’s memorable and humorous stage banter — in a similar vein of acts like Less Than Jake and Blink-182, their sense of humor coexisted with their sonic identity very well, and it made for a very fun performance.

Direct support for Everclear came in the form of Marcy Playground. While a decent amount of their music has a bit of a laid-back tone, their live show has more of a guitar-driven edge that makes the songs sound a little more agressive at times, which works perfectly while supporting a band like Everclear. For my personal taste, their set was an example of enjoying a band in a live setting moreso than in the studio, with the best instance being their performance of their hit single “Sex & Candy” — while the studio version of the song was never one of my favorites, hearing it live was a very enjoyable experience. Playing a longer set for this show in comparison to other stops of the tour, their time on stage was more upbeat and lively than their casually relaxed studio sound may suggest, and they’re a band I’d definitely recommend seeing live at least once if you’re given the chance.

Everclear walked onto the stage to the acapella intro of the epic “So Much for the Afterglow” and were immediately greeted with applause from the audience before bursting into the full song to kick off their show. Having a song like “So Much for the Afterglow” is probably a blessing because not only was it a commercially successful song, but it’s also the perfect track to open up a concert — much like the 1997 album of the same name, the band also followed it up with the single “Everything to Everyone,” a switch-up that’s just as effective on the stage as it is on the record.

As far as stage banter goes, bassist Freddy Herrera and vocalist/guitarist Art Alexakis shared the mic throughout the show, introducing the band members several times while also engaging with the crowd. Alexakis would playfully tell the audience that they were “starting to sound like North Carolina” if their applause was starting to get too quiet (which I appreciated, even as a North Carolina resident), Herrera was the first to point out the crowd that amassed on the roof of the parking garage across the street. The band seemed to have as much fun with the fans as they did with each other on stage — it was all smiles from beginning to end, and the band clearly fed off of the energy that the audience was giving them.

As previously mentioned, this tour is in celebration of the Songs from an American Movie albums, particularly Vol. One: Learning How to Smile, with the album being pressed on vinyl for the first time this year and being sold at the shows, so the setlist naturally contained a few deeper cuts from the album as well. One of my personal favorite moments was the performance of “Now That It’s Over,” but another special moment on this tour is the full-band performance of Van Morrison’s “Brown-Eyed Girl,” with this tour marking the first time the band has performed the song together. Also at this show was the performance of the title track “Songs from an American Movie,” along with the expected hits of “AM Radio” and “Wonderful.”

I mentioned this when I first saw Everclear live about two and a half years ago in Jacksonville, NC, but while I’m normally not a fan of bands playing songs in a different key than the original studio versions, it works really well for Everclear. For example, in my dream Everclear setlist writeup before the show, I stated that I prefer the live version of “AM Radio” to the album version, because the different key and overall live environment gives the song an even bigger energy. I would also argue that songs like “Everything to Everyone” and “Now That It’s Over” benefit from being tuned down, but at the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference.

This difference in tuning also has a similar musical effect to what I previously wrote about Marcy Playground — with a lot of Everclear’s bigger hits being a bit on the softer side, like “Wonderful” and “I Will Buy You a New Life,” for example, playing them in a different key gives the songs a more punchy sound to them that’s absent in the studio recordings. With many other bands, there are moments where downtuning songs gives them a lifeless feeling, but the opposite has been the case each time I’ve seen Everclear.

Some other highlights from the setlist included “Amphetamine” from So Much for the Afterglow, “Heroin Girl” from Sparkle & Fade, and the instrumental “El Distorto de Melodica.” There’s also something about this concert being right on the Virginia Beach boardwalk that made “Santa Monica” even more special, like one of those coincidences you can’t help but chuckle about. As someone who didn’t really appreciate the Songs from an American Movie albums when I was first getting into the band, it was awesome to get to hear some deep cuts from that era of the band’s discography, along with the expected hits and tracks from other albums.

What’s really cool about seeing bands like Everclear who have been around for a few decades is to see the generational crossover with their audience. While in the photo pit, there were several young kids and teenagers standing up at the front with their parents, and a lot of the older demographic was further back, either standing or seated in lawnchairs. However, it was easy to see the enthusiasm of the fans who weren’t even born yet when Everclear first came into prominence, along with the fact that they knew every word to every song. As a younger fan myself, it’s always cool to see younger generations still having a passion for some of the more “classic” rock bands that paved the way for a lot of the mainstream rock artists today.

Everclear Setlist:

1. So Much for the Afterglow

2. Everything to Everyone

3. Heroin Girl

4. Father of Mine

5. Now That It’s Over

6. Amphetamine

7. Strawberry

8. Heartspark Dollarsign

9. I Will Buy You a New Life

10. El Distorto de Melodica

11. AM Radio

12. Wonderful

13. Songs from an American Movie

14. Brown-Eyed Girl

15. Santa Monica

16. Molly’s Lips (Nirvana cover)

A couple weeks after the show, I had the pleasure of interviewing Art Alexakis and talking with him about all things Everclear. It was nice to speak with him again, after first getting to talk with him after the band’s show in Jacksonville, NC in July of 2022. I enjoyed being able to ask him questions about the Songs from an American Movie albums and the current tour in celebration of their 25th anniversary, along with being able to fit in questions about his cameo on Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide and my personal favorite Everclear song, “The Swing.” Despite the technical difficulties and time constraints, it was still a fun conversation that I had a good time with, and I appreciate the band’s publicist, Bari Lieberman, and the team at Press Here Publicity for their communication and help with making this interview happen.

Everclear’s a band that I’ve been a hardcore fan of since I was in high school, and getting to see them live for the second time was just as awesome as the first. From the beachside location to the energetic audience to the celebratory setlist, everything about this Virginia Beach show was memorable. The band sounded amazing, the support lineup was solid, and I’m looking forward to the next time I’m able to see Everclear once again.

To see the rest of the tour dates and buy tickets, click here.

Support the bands by checking out the links below:

- Jimmie’s Chicken Shack

- Marcy Playground

- Everclear

Thanks for reading! If you liked this article and want to keep up with more from me, feel free to subscribe