Everclear and Soul Asylum visited Rescue Rooms on their co-headline tour...
Everclear are celebrating thirty years of making and performing rock music. Formed in Oregon in 1992, their sound always felt Californian to me, inspired - in parts - by the exuberance of youth and joyful times, but also depression, the use of recreational drugs and existentialism, switching effortlessly between plain and simple heavy rock tunes, social commentary, and acoustic tracks concerned with the lighter side of life, or poetic love songs.
Art Alexakis and his band tear into their opening songs So Much For the Afterglow and Everything to Everyone - both of which are met warmly by the crowd. Before moving onto several 'old school' Everclear songs such as Heroin Girl and Nervous and Weird, plus a raucous rendition of Amphetamine recapturing the energy and verve of days past. These guys might be middle-aged now (the original band members have long since been replaced in the early 2000s), but they are still up for rocking out. Art celebrated his sixtieth birthday this year and his tells us that he is suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, but he loves to play rock music and has lost none of his enthusiasm or commitment.
The crowd were delighted to hear songs from across all of Everclear's oeuvre from World of Noise, to Songs From An American Movie and everything in between including Father of Mine, Strawberry and I Will Buy You A New Life. They finish their set with Santa Monica to cheers and clapping from an appreciative audience. Everclear offers screaming guitar riffs, booming drums and pounding bass, the band bounce across the stage, rewinding the years and they almost rip the roof off the Rescue Rooms.
Soul Asylum are on stage next and get things started with Somebody to Shove. Misery comes not to long after and is also very popular with the Rescue Rooms crowd who eagerly sing along. The band make the best use of the limited space on the stage; lead guitarist Ryan Smith is a bundle of energy and enthusiasm, madly jumping and head-banging his way through the songs. He runs back and forth, switching places with lead singer Dave Pirner as they play their guitars side by side striking classic rock poses and clearly having a lot of fun.
Pirner gets some crowd participation going on, but apart from a few (intentionally) bad jokes between songs, this four-piece powerhouse rock band don't let up for a moment, playing hit after hit including Closer to the Stars and Little Too Clean, followed by Freaks and Never Really Been. They gather momentum and by the time they get to Runaway Train the crowd is already pretty pumped up and ready to explode. Made to be Broken, Veil of Tears, and Just Like Anyone round out the main set, with String of Pearls and a blistering run through of April Fool making up the encore. What a great set.
I had primarily gone to the gig to see Everclear, since I knew only a couple of Soul Asylum songs, but as Art said himself, his co-headliners are a brilliant band and I’m pleased to say that I now consider myself to be a Soul Asylum fan as well. It's not every day you get to watch two great rock bands co-headlining a thunderous gig in a very intimate venue that offers fantastic views of the stage and great acoustics, but that’s what an Everclear and Soul Asylum gig offers their fans. What a fantastic gig and a great night.
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