EVERCLEAR

3.16.01
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY

Slamming out power chords while jumping around the stage, Everclear frontman Art Alexakis gave us a taste of how exciting it is to rock the world-famous Madison Square Garden. "Just being up here makes me want to play Led Zeppelin," Alexakis gushed to the enormous crowd.

Performing on the same stage as Zeppelin and KISS is enough to inspire any band - especially Everclear, who have experienced a huge rise in popularity over the past few years with their memorable pop-rock hooks and revealing lyrics. On this night, the trio of Alexakis, bassist Craig Montoya and drummer Greg Eklund - along with an additional drummer, guitarist and keyboard player - proved that, even with tonight's flaws, they could live up to their heroes.

Despite the band's energy and arena-sized charm, the funky pop of "AM Radio" and other bouncy tunes suffered from unintelligible vocals and a bottom-heavy muddiness throughout much of the set. After the audience's lukewarm response, Alexakis decided to break down the barrier by recruiting "Everclear Dancers" from the audience to shake their booties on stage with the band.

This mid-show energy surge shot the performance up a notch, as Alexakis' voice finally emerged for the confessional radio hit "Father Of Mine." Now, finally, we could sing along to the lyrics and the numerous "yeah-uh's."

Ending the set with "Santa Monica," the California-based trio thundered through one of their catchiest tunes. "Who wants to come home with me to Santa Monica?" Alexakis asked. Judging from the thunderous response, few would refuse such an invitation.

- Hal Miller

This review was originally featured on www.metal-is.com