Everclear/Spacehog/Tracy Bonham/7 Year Bitch
Garden State Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
Here's a contemporaneous review I wrote for injersey.com:
The tour was named "Summerland," after the song of the same name on Everclear's Sparkle and Fade album. It's the song that obviously has a lot of meaning to the band--not only the tour but the album itself gets its name from the song.
post continues....
It sure works as a tour name. The lyrics "Let's just leave this place/and go to Summerland/Just a name on the map/sounds like heaven to me" are perfect for the package tour, Everclear's movable feast of music. And doesn't "sparkle and fade" describe any concert? Glittery and dazzling while experienced, but fading into the memory of those who participated...
Opening up the four-band bill was Atlantic Records artist 7 Year Bitch, a female punk foursome. The amphitheater was still fairly empty and the setting sun was still shining brightly as 7 Year Bitch took the stage. Despite the audience apathy in the unenviable opening slot of the bill, the band plowed through their songs with vigor. They played songs like "2nd Hand," "Crying Shame," and "Deep in the Heart" from their Gato Negro record, and "The Scratch" and the fine song "Hip Like Junk" (with its anti-heroin lyrics equating doing smack to bouncing a "rock off your head") from their earlier Viva Zapata indie album.
7 Year Bitch's music are always loud and heavy, and they're frequently a chaotic morass of sound that's difficult to understand. This kind of performance always fares much better with hardcore fans who are already familiar with the songs, so it's understandable that the thin audience had a hard time getting into the spirit of their performance.
Following 7 Year Bitch was a bizarre musical treat one has to experience to believe. As a way of entertaining the audience while the stage crew changes setups, a musician named Arthur Nakane played between bands throughout Summerland. Nakane bills himself as a Japanese one-man band, and he plays mostly old rock 'n' roll covers.
Damned if Nakane didn't play electric guitar, keyboard, cymbals, harmonica, tambourine, and kazoo all at once--in fact, his only external accompaniment was a drum machine. Nakane made lighthearted stage patter in between his various covers of the Beatles and Elvis Presley, plus "(Oh) Pretty Woman," "Secret Agent Man," and an incredible version of "Achy Breaky Heart" sung in Japanese.
Nakane isn't really a good player (of course, how can you tell when he's playing so many different instruments at once?), but that's half the fun. It's like a concert version of karaoke: familiar, singalong songs that you watch mostly to see how bad or awkward the song will be rendered.
The next artist up to bat was Boston's latest contribution to the rock world: Tracy Bonham, touring hot on the heels of her smash single "Mother, Mother" from her premiere album The Burdens of Being Upright. Bonham strolled out on stage solo with only a violin and began "Brain Crack," a thin wedge of a song repeating "that's the sound of your brain cracking" over and over. Her bass player and drummer, and eventually her guitarist, joined her to kick into a cover of the Pavement song "Flux=Rad." The pair of songs was a distinctive and dramatic way to begin her set, and Bonham finished off the final chord of "Flux=Rad" with a triumphant wave of her hand.
She also did versions of "Tell It To the Sky," "Bulldog," and "Sharks Can't Sleep" (which she prefaced by telling the audience "we're going to play a sweet, cuddly number--so cuddle up!"), but most audience members were itching for her to play her MTV favorite, "Mother, Mother." Bonham clearly knew what people wanted--she toyed with the crowd after "Tell It To the Sky" by playing an unfamiliar violin melody, then suddenly screaming out "It's our big hit single, 'Mother, Mother!' " The audience was very enthusiastic, singing along as Bonham waggled her violin bow and belted out the song's oft-repeated cry of "Everything's fine!"
Bonham rounded out her set with another cover, this time paying homage to the goddess of iconoclastic women in modern rock, Polly Jean Harvey. Bonham sawed away on her violin, playing a driving version of PJ Harvey's "50 Foot Queenie" to close the show.
As good as Tracy Bonham was, and as forceful as 7 Year Bitch performed, neither artist had a true handle on how to play to a venue as large as the Garden State Arts Center. Both had done shows that would've been ideal for a bar or club setting. However, Spacehog perfectly understood the necessity of adding some measure of spectacle to the music when in larger venues.
Spacehog, the British rock newcomers, put together a terrific show. Lead singer Royston Langdon came out on stage wearing oversize, Elton John-style sunglasses, a white cowboy hat, and what appeared to be glittery eye shadow. The band launched into their songs with an infectious energy in front of a giant banner of their defiant "spacehog" logo. Langdon performs with a ferocious intensity, his eyes wild with a look similar to Green Day's Billy Joe. Guitarist Antony "Ant" Langdon (Royston's brother) roamed around the stage while playing, mugging to various parts of the audience of during each song.
The band showcased highly entertaining versions of songs from their CD, Resident Alien, including "Cruel to Be Kind," "Spacehog," "Only a Few," "Candyman," "Space is the Place," and the popular single "In the Meantime."
Musically, Spacehog can be as tight as they wanna be--smoothly handling the vocal harmonies of "Only a Few" or the slide lead guitar of "Candyman"--but they also let their hair down for anarchic fun--having the crowd chant a between-song chorus of "fuck you" or drummer Jonny Craig pounding a high school cheerleader beat culminating in a group shout of "Spacehog!"
Following Spacehog wasn't an easy task, but it was Everclear that many in the audience had come to see, so when the house lights when down and searchlights panned the Arts Center as Everclear took the stage playing "Summerland," many leapt to their feet.
The California three-man punk band created a big sound, and their performance was an animated extrapolation of their recorded music. Both singer/guitarist Art Alexakis and bassist Craig Montoya were all over the stage, running around the vast space as if playing the music made them more hyperkinetic.
The stage was decorated with two giant, inflated palm trees (which stagehands sent swaying to the beat when the band played their hit "Santa Monica (Watch the World Die)" for the encore) and the guys in the group wore Hawaiian shirts, lending a fun tropical feel to the show.
Everclear's short and punchy songs allowed for a long set list. They played a wide selection from both their first album, World of Noise, and the recent Sparkle and Fade release. In addition to the songs mentioned above, standout performances included the new single "You Make Me Feel Like a Whore," plus "Heartspark Dollarsign," "My Sexual Life," and "Heroin Girl" from Sparkle and Fade, and "Sick & Tired," "Nervous & Weird," and the excellent "Fire Maple Song" from the first album.
The band concluded their set with "American Girl," a song they contributed to the Tom Petty tribute album from Backyard Records, You Got Lucky, in 1994.
Everclear's performance was enjoyable (if a little too loud to fully appreciate Alexakis' live vocal spin on his lyrics) but not fully successful in creating a show which bridges the gulf between listener and performer in a venue of that size. The larger the room, the greater the loss in audience intimacy, and Everclear wasn't fully able to compensate. They played well and entertained their fans, but the setting wasn't great for a punk band.
Not that there wasn't a good time to be had at Summerland. In an era when Lollapalooza has gotten too big for its britches, when Perry Farrell is getting a little too utopian in his package-tour vision, and the specialized niche tours (like H.O.R.D.E., the Reggae Sunsplash, and the House of Blues caravan) aren't going to be for everyone's taste, The Summerland Tour was a great load of fun for looking for a fleshed-out evening of pop/rock and punk.
Here's a contemporaneous review I wrote for injersey.com:
The tour was named "Summerland," after the song of the same name on Everclear's Sparkle and Fade album. It's the song that obviously has a lot of meaning to the band--not only the tour but the album itself gets its name from the song.
post continues....
It sure works as a tour name. The lyrics "Let's just leave this place/and go to Summerland/Just a name on the map/sounds like heaven to me" are perfect for the package tour, Everclear's movable feast of music. And doesn't "sparkle and fade" describe any concert? Glittery and dazzling while experienced, but fading into the memory of those who participated...
Opening up the four-band bill was Atlantic Records artist 7 Year Bitch, a female punk foursome. The amphitheater was still fairly empty and the setting sun was still shining brightly as 7 Year Bitch took the stage. Despite the audience apathy in the unenviable opening slot of the bill, the band plowed through their songs with vigor. They played songs like "2nd Hand," "Crying Shame," and "Deep in the Heart" from their Gato Negro record, and "The Scratch" and the fine song "Hip Like Junk" (with its anti-heroin lyrics equating doing smack to bouncing a "rock off your head") from their earlier Viva Zapata indie album.
7 Year Bitch's music are always loud and heavy, and they're frequently a chaotic morass of sound that's difficult to understand. This kind of performance always fares much better with hardcore fans who are already familiar with the songs, so it's understandable that the thin audience had a hard time getting into the spirit of their performance.
Following 7 Year Bitch was a bizarre musical treat one has to experience to believe. As a way of entertaining the audience while the stage crew changes setups, a musician named Arthur Nakane played between bands throughout Summerland. Nakane bills himself as a Japanese one-man band, and he plays mostly old rock 'n' roll covers.
Damned if Nakane didn't play electric guitar, keyboard, cymbals, harmonica, tambourine, and kazoo all at once--in fact, his only external accompaniment was a drum machine. Nakane made lighthearted stage patter in between his various covers of the Beatles and Elvis Presley, plus "(Oh) Pretty Woman," "Secret Agent Man," and an incredible version of "Achy Breaky Heart" sung in Japanese.
Nakane isn't really a good player (of course, how can you tell when he's playing so many different instruments at once?), but that's half the fun. It's like a concert version of karaoke: familiar, singalong songs that you watch mostly to see how bad or awkward the song will be rendered.
The next artist up to bat was Boston's latest contribution to the rock world: Tracy Bonham, touring hot on the heels of her smash single "Mother, Mother" from her premiere album The Burdens of Being Upright. Bonham strolled out on stage solo with only a violin and began "Brain Crack," a thin wedge of a song repeating "that's the sound of your brain cracking" over and over. Her bass player and drummer, and eventually her guitarist, joined her to kick into a cover of the Pavement song "Flux=Rad." The pair of songs was a distinctive and dramatic way to begin her set, and Bonham finished off the final chord of "Flux=Rad" with a triumphant wave of her hand.
She also did versions of "Tell It To the Sky," "Bulldog," and "Sharks Can't Sleep" (which she prefaced by telling the audience "we're going to play a sweet, cuddly number--so cuddle up!"), but most audience members were itching for her to play her MTV favorite, "Mother, Mother." Bonham clearly knew what people wanted--she toyed with the crowd after "Tell It To the Sky" by playing an unfamiliar violin melody, then suddenly screaming out "It's our big hit single, 'Mother, Mother!' " The audience was very enthusiastic, singing along as Bonham waggled her violin bow and belted out the song's oft-repeated cry of "Everything's fine!"
Bonham rounded out her set with another cover, this time paying homage to the goddess of iconoclastic women in modern rock, Polly Jean Harvey. Bonham sawed away on her violin, playing a driving version of PJ Harvey's "50 Foot Queenie" to close the show.
As good as Tracy Bonham was, and as forceful as 7 Year Bitch performed, neither artist had a true handle on how to play to a venue as large as the Garden State Arts Center. Both had done shows that would've been ideal for a bar or club setting. However, Spacehog perfectly understood the necessity of adding some measure of spectacle to the music when in larger venues.
Spacehog, the British rock newcomers, put together a terrific show. Lead singer Royston Langdon came out on stage wearing oversize, Elton John-style sunglasses, a white cowboy hat, and what appeared to be glittery eye shadow. The band launched into their songs with an infectious energy in front of a giant banner of their defiant "spacehog" logo. Langdon performs with a ferocious intensity, his eyes wild with a look similar to Green Day's Billy Joe. Guitarist Antony "Ant" Langdon (Royston's brother) roamed around the stage while playing, mugging to various parts of the audience of during each song.
The band showcased highly entertaining versions of songs from their CD, Resident Alien, including "Cruel to Be Kind," "Spacehog," "Only a Few," "Candyman," "Space is the Place," and the popular single "In the Meantime."
Musically, Spacehog can be as tight as they wanna be--smoothly handling the vocal harmonies of "Only a Few" or the slide lead guitar of "Candyman"--but they also let their hair down for anarchic fun--having the crowd chant a between-song chorus of "fuck you" or drummer Jonny Craig pounding a high school cheerleader beat culminating in a group shout of "Spacehog!"
Following Spacehog wasn't an easy task, but it was Everclear that many in the audience had come to see, so when the house lights when down and searchlights panned the Arts Center as Everclear took the stage playing "Summerland," many leapt to their feet.
The California three-man punk band created a big sound, and their performance was an animated extrapolation of their recorded music. Both singer/guitarist Art Alexakis and bassist Craig Montoya were all over the stage, running around the vast space as if playing the music made them more hyperkinetic.
The stage was decorated with two giant, inflated palm trees (which stagehands sent swaying to the beat when the band played their hit "Santa Monica (Watch the World Die)" for the encore) and the guys in the group wore Hawaiian shirts, lending a fun tropical feel to the show.
Everclear's short and punchy songs allowed for a long set list. They played a wide selection from both their first album, World of Noise, and the recent Sparkle and Fade release. In addition to the songs mentioned above, standout performances included the new single "You Make Me Feel Like a Whore," plus "Heartspark Dollarsign," "My Sexual Life," and "Heroin Girl" from Sparkle and Fade, and "Sick & Tired," "Nervous & Weird," and the excellent "Fire Maple Song" from the first album.
The band concluded their set with "American Girl," a song they contributed to the Tom Petty tribute album from Backyard Records, You Got Lucky, in 1994.
Everclear's performance was enjoyable (if a little too loud to fully appreciate Alexakis' live vocal spin on his lyrics) but not fully successful in creating a show which bridges the gulf between listener and performer in a venue of that size. The larger the room, the greater the loss in audience intimacy, and Everclear wasn't fully able to compensate. They played well and entertained their fans, but the setting wasn't great for a punk band.
Not that there wasn't a good time to be had at Summerland. In an era when Lollapalooza has gotten too big for its britches, when Perry Farrell is getting a little too utopian in his package-tour vision, and the specialized niche tours (like H.O.R.D.E., the Reggae Sunsplash, and the House of Blues caravan) aren't going to be for everyone's taste, The Summerland Tour was a great load of fun for looking for a fleshed-out evening of pop/rock and punk.
Labels: 7 Year Bitch, Arthur Nakane, Everclear, Garden State Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ, Spacehog, Tracy Bonham
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home