Live – EVERCLEAR, Perth 14th October 2012

Club Capitol, Perth, Western Australia
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar

After a lengthy support set from… well, to be honest we’re not quite sure who they were – which should serve as a word of advice to any band who scores a high profile support slot: sell yourself to the crowd, let them know who you are and where to find your music.  Marketing 101.  Anyway, they bashed their way through a set of early Jebediah-ish sounding 90’s indie post grunge, musically boasting a few cool tunes (Ready When I Say Go was a highlight) but little personality.  [Editor’s note – it would appear this was Perth band Emperors]

Everclear are largely remembered for their brace of mid-late Nineties albums Sparkle & Fade and So Much For The Afterglow (1995 and ’97 respectively), and mainman Art Alexakis knows that all too well, serving up a smoking hot platter of crowd favourites on his first tour of Australia in 14 years.

On that visit Alexadis and co ran into hiccups – projectiles and aggression greeted them on more than one occasion, but thankfully there was an altogether more loved up vibe this time round.

Even a croaky voice lacking its usual warmth and depth (Illness?  Blown out a little on tour?) didn’t put a near-full crowd off – and why would it when they delivered a set focussing on those 2 classic 90’s albums!

The setlist read like a Triple J Hottest 100 playlist of the era – So Much For The Afterglow, Father Of Mine, Heroin Girl, Heartspark Dollarsign and, of course, Santa Monica all filled the moshpit and evoked memories, while latterday hit Wonderful brought the biggest singalong of the night.

Alexakis strapped on an acoustic guitar for a heartfelt but hoarse Song From An American Movie Pt 1 and Strawberry.  Local God from the Romeo & Juliet movie soundtrack was a raucous highlight, introduced as “the best thing about being in Australia is that you’ve got songs you like that no-one else likes!”

Surprisingly only one new track is aired from their very good 2012 album Invisible Stars – Be Careful What You Ask For.  A couple more wouldn’t have gone astray but by the conversations we had on the night, we were in the minority having listened to the album.

The band returned for an encore with the novel gimmick of playing a classic rock riff for each band member, including some Judas Priest, Queen, Deep Purple, Scorpions before tearing up a shambolic rock n’ rolling take on Led Zeppelin’s Rock n’ Roll.

Blowing out the curfew on the last night of the tour, a riotous encore trio of You Make Me Feel Like A Whore, Fire Maple Song and the screaming I Will Buy You A New Life ended the night with a lot of very happy punters, and no doubt a sore throat for Mr Alexakis.

Setlist:

So Much For The Afterglow
Electra Made Me Blind
Father Of Mine
Heroin Girl
Amphetamine
Wonderful
Song From An American Movie, Pt 1 (Acoustic)
Strawberry (Acoustic)
Be Careful What You Ask For
Local God
Heartspark Dollarsign
Everything To Everyone
Santa Monica

Encore:
Classic Rock Medley during band intros
You Make Me Feel Like A Whore
Fire Maple Song
I Will Buy You A New Life

Category: Live Reviews