So as promised, here is my review of the Summerland concert I went to over the weekend. Summerland was organized by Everclear and featured acts by Sponge, Live, Filter, and Everclear. As I am a big Everclear fan (and a fan of Sponge, Filter, and Live as well) I was very excited to hear about this show so I ponied up money for a VIP ticket. What this ticket got me was a pre-show meet and greet with Everclear which included a short acoustic performance by them, along with a "goodie bag" that included their latest CD and some other schwag.
I was a bit nervous to meet Art, who is one of my personal musical heroes, but he was totally cool and very friendly and approachable. Some people might say, well yeah, you were paying to meet him so of course he would be! However, I think he wasn't acting - he really did seem like a very cool, laid back rock star. I didn't say a whole lot to him as everyone at the meet and greet also wanted to say hi, but I did thank him for following me on Twitter. I was wearing an old Everclear tour t-shirt that I'd gotten back in 2001 or so, and he said he liked my shirt, that it was "old school." I also got to meet all of his band members, who were equally friendly, nice, and approachable. I also got photos of myself with Art, along with the band.
In his photo I am laughing because Art was joking about how much taller I was than the band and said something like, "OK everybody, get on your tiptoes now!"
I was also able to record the band's acoustic performance of "I Will Buy You A New Life" which I have shared below. In hindsight of course, I should have turned the camera so it would post better on YouTube but in the spur of the moment I didn't think of it. Anyhow, other than that, the video turned out pretty well.
The regular show started about twenty minutes after the meet and greet event ended. I won't go into details for every act, but I thought ALL the bands rocked, all the sets were great, and every set felt like it was the right length. There was also a nice break time between sets so you never had to miss any music while waiting in line for the bathroom or whatever. Seriously, great show and great sound by all the performers.
I am probably...ok, defintitely prejudiced because I liked all the bands, but it was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. As another reviewer pointed out, none of the bands performing featured their original lineup, and Live did not feature their original lead singer, but I didn't mind in the least or notice in the performance of their songs.
It was kind of funny observing the crowd - now that all of us original fans are in our thirties and forties, it was definitely a more mellow watching experience than some of the concerts I went to in my youth. While far from a sellout crowd, it was still good sized and everyone really seemed to enjoy the music.
I won't try to include videos by all the bands that performed - anyone interested can do a search on YouTube to find the music - but I will say, if you do like the bands, try and support them by buying their music, even if it's just individual tracks. But if you DO like the bands, why not pony up some cash for a CD to show your love?
I do want to include this video of a cover of "Happy Together" by Filter as I think it's an interesting, well-done take on the song and I also think it's an excellent video. I guess it's gotten some more airplay recently since it was featured on the soundtrack for the new Great Gatsby movie, and I'm happy for the band that it has.
In short, I thought Summerland was an awesome show, and I hope Art brings it back again next year. For more information on tour dates, you can go to click here and see if it's coming to your town. More linky goodness...to follow Live on Twitter, click here. To follow Sponge, click here. To follow Filter, click here. To follow Everclear, click here. Art also has an individual Twitter feed you can access here.
