Concert Recap: Everclear’s 30th Anniversary Tour, Jacksonville, NC (July 2, 2022)

Halfway through their cross-country celebration of 30 years as a band, alternative rock icons Everclear brought their anniversary tour to the Lime Light in Jacksonville, North Carolina, along with support from their alt-rock colleagues Fastball and The Nixons. This was the first concert I’ve attended in a few years in which I’ve never seen any of the performing bands live before, but any and all preconceived expectations I had were exceeded.

Everclear is a band that I’ve been listening to for years, but I’ve never been able to see them in concert until this past weekend. I had a vague familiarity with both Fastball and The Nixons before this show as well, but it only consisted of their hits from the 90s – I honestly didn’t know they were both still making music today, but I’ve since done my due diligence and I’m going to keep a closer eye on them going forward.

The first band to go onstage was The Nixons, energetically and emphatically kicking things off with their alternative post-grunge dynamism. For anyone who’s not very familiar with their music, the best way I can describe it is that they sound like a mix between My Own Prison-era Creed, Thickskin-era Skid Row, and early Matchbox Twenty (which is a compliment, by the way). Initially, it was difficult to hear vocalist Zac Maloy during their opening song, “Head,” but the sound was eventually balanced out before the next song (I also didn’t realize until after the fact that the vocalist was the same Zac Maloy that produced for Texas hard-rockers Rockett Queen, so there’s a fun fact for you).

The band’s set was only eight songs long, but they made the best of that time – they played several songs from various releases throughout their career, from their Billboard top-10 hits “Sister” and “Baton Rouge” to the title track of their newly-released Kaleidoscope EP. They even played their cover of Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” which is a song that many people covet as untouchable and superior to any reinventions. With such an enigmatically popular song like that, it takes a lot for a band to make a faithful cover, but I’ll be the first to say that The Nixons crafted a composition that can contend, and in my opinion surpass, the original. Closing with an accelerated punk-rock spirited version of “One By One,” the band left all their energy on the stage, with Maloy, bassist Ricky Brooks, guitarist Jesse Davis, and drummer John Humphrey all feeding off the enthusiasm of the crowd and ending their time onstage with the same intensity and vigor as how they started.

The Nixons Setlist:

1.     Head

2.     Leave

3.     Baton Rouge

4.     Kaleidoscope

5.     Rocket Man (Elton John cover)

6.     Sister

7.     Happy Song

8.     One By One

Next up was Fastball, who immediately had a much different vibe than The Nixons. As they walked onto the stage, guitarist and vocalist Miles Zuniga carried a boombox while War’s “Low Rider” played through the stage speakers. Over the course of their ten-song set, Zuniga and bassist Tony Scalzo would swap lead vocal duties from song to song, with both musicians doing a good job of keeping the audience excited and upbeat. Musically, their set had an eclectic sound, from alternative to power pop to straightforward rock – like The Nixons, Fastball also released new music last month and made time to play a couple cuts from their new album, The Deep End.

The biggest takeaway from Fastball’s performance was that they’re made for the stage – they’re a fantastic live band, from their musical execution to their stage banter. There was also a large amount of crowd participation during their set, and the attending audience was loving every second of it. The studio versions of some of their songs are almost deceptive in a way, because there are times in which they play more energetically onstage than they do on their albums, with the most prominent example being with their song “Andrea,” from the new Deep End album – the studio version is softer and laid back, while the live version is much bouncier and more exuberant. As direct support to Everclear, they effectively kept the audience on their feet and ready for the headliner with their exciting stage presence and lively crowd work.

Fastball Setlist:

1.     Fire Escape

2.     All I Was Looking for Was You

3.     You’re an Ocean

4.     Andrea

5.     Soundtrack

6.     Love Comes in Waves

7.     Out of My Head

8.     The Way

9.     Sooner or Later

10.  Thunderbird (ZZ Top cover)

After Fastball, it was time for Everclear to take the stage, with the intro to “So Much for the Afterglow” playing on the speakers as vocalist and guitarist Art Alexakis, lead guitarist Davey French, bassist Freddy Herrera, and drummer Brian Nolan walked out. As the intro cut off, Alexakis said “we’re called Everclear,” and the band burst into “Electra Made Me Blind,” the opening song from their 1995 album Sparkle and Fade.

For an anniversary tour, Everclear’s career-spanning set was just about everything a fan could hope for, featuring hits, covers, and rarities. The audience kept the same energy from beginning to end, regardless of what the band was playing – they sang their hearts out during the hits, and they were equally as excited and receptive to the more obscure songs that they may have not heard before. Alexakis and Herrera both made time to speak and interact with the crowd between songs, and there was even time for Alexakis and French to just jam out on guitars for a brief moment.

Musically, a lot of the songs were in a different key than the original studio versions, which gave the songs a different energy – it’s the perfect example of how a band goes through changes over their career, but they remain the same at their core. For some songs, like “Everything to Everyone” and “AM Radio,” I personally prefer the way they sound live over the studio versions – I always loved the In a Different Light version of “Everything to Everyone,” and the current live version reminded me of that a lot, so that was cool.

The highlight of the entire night came early in the set – after the band played “Father of Mine,” Alexakis introduced the next song by saying “this is off a soundtrack from a movie called Scream 2, this is called ‘The Swing.’” I was recording a video as Alexakis was making this introduction, and while I don’t like to talk or make any noise when I’m recording, I couldn’t help but get excited and cheer for that song. I was also lucky enough that the people in the audience around me were making enough noise for the both of us, so I simply stood there in awe of the fact that I was actually hearing my favorite Everclear song being performed in a small venue in my hometown. This was a big deal on a couple levels – not only did I never think a band like Everclear would play in a place like Jacksonville, but I also never thought they would play a song like “The Swing” in said venue. I know they’ve played it acoustically a couple times and Alexakis occasionally plays it when he does his solo acoustic Songs & Stories performances, but I only know of one or two times they played it as a full band live, and that was back in 2017. To say the least, nothing could’ve topped that moment of the concert for me.

The rest of their setlist mainly consisted of cuts from their newly remastered debut album World of Noise, including the previously unreleased “Blondes,” which was written during those sessions, along with several songs from Sparkle and Fade and So Much for the Afterglow. It was a great mix of songs to celebrate their 30-year milestone, and they put on a phenomenal performance.

Last week, I posted a top 5 list of my favorite Everclear songs, and the band ended up seeing it – I tagged them in the social media posts when the article was up, but I didn’t think they’d actually see it, because most musicians and public figures don’t. However, since they did and I heard they liked it, I wanted to try finding a way to introduce myself to them after the show as a matter of principle because of that previous interaction. When I left the venue, I saw Alexakis talking to a couple people outside of the band’s bus, so I made my way there and was able to talk with him. When I told him I was the one who wrote the list, he went back into the bus and came back with Herrera, and they told me they played “The Swing” because of the article I wrote. Since they just finished performing and were most likely tired, I didn’t want to take up too much of their time, but I was glad things worked out and I was able to talk with them briefly. I don’t know if Alexakis and Herrera will end up reading this, but if they are, then I hope they know that their generosity both on and off the stage didn’t go unnoticed and I really appreciate the time that they took to both play my favorite song and talk with me afterwards.

Everclear Setlist *(may be incomplete/out of order)

1.     Electra Made Me Blind

2.     Heroin Girl

3.     Everything to Everyone

4.     Father of Mine

5.     The Swing

6.     Nervous & Weird

7.     Loser Makes Good

8.     I Will Buy You a New Life

9.     Strawberry

10.  Blondes

11.  Local God

12.  The Boys Are Back in Town

13.  Wonderful

Encores

14.  AM Radio

15.  Santa Monica

16.  Molly’s Lips (Nirvana cover)

All in all, it was a great night with three great bands, and I hope they return to the area soon. The Nixons, Fastball, and Everclear put on a tremendous show and they’ve put together a must-see tour that I’m glad I got to witness.

For videos from the show, click here

Support the bands by checking out the links below:

- The Nixons: https://www.thenixonsofficial.com/

- Fastball: http://www.fastballtheband.com/

- Everclear: https://www.everclearmusic.com/

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