Everclear Brings Some Rock ‘N’ Roll to Cowboy Up

Everclear is in the midst of touring to help promote the digital re-release of its first full-length album, World of Noise. This marks the 30th anniversary of the album, so the tour is dubbed the 30th Anniversary Tour. Joining Everclear on the tour, are hard-hitting The Nixons, and the smooth sailing band, Fastball. The tour began at the beginning of June and runs through the end of July, with a few one-off 30th Anniversary Tour dates in August and September.

We were able to catch Everclear’s tour stop on July 1, 2022, in Greenville, SC, where they performed at Cowboy Up. The venue is a newer music venue that definitely has a country vibe to it. The name of the venue didn’t give that away, did it? However, that didn’t stop the venue from booking a rock n’ roll show and it definitely didn’t stop rock n’ rollers to come out and see these three bands take command of the stage.

First up was The Nixons. The frontman Zac Maloy really knows how to start off a rock show. Within his first song, he was jumping as high as his boots would allow him as he sang, “Head.” Before long, he made a wide step off stage to stand on the barrels that were on the floor between the stage and the barricade to get closer to the audience that were able to make it early enough to catch their set. Highlights of the set included, “Sister,” “Kaleidoscope,” and the band’s rendition of “Rocket Man.” The set was high energy and it was a treat to see The Nixons back together and on tour.

As more concertgoers started to fill the floor of the venue, Fastball took the stage. These guys are the calm before the storm. They are slick and smooth and brought the tunes. While out on tour with Everclear, they are also celebrating their June 2022 release of The Deep End, which has 10 tracks and is a subsequent release from their March 2022 release of their Soundtrack EP, which has 4 tracks. During the 8-song set, Fastball performed “Soundtrack,” which is the first song on both releases this year. As the set went on, the fans were treated to some favorite sing-alongs, “Out of My Head,” and “The Way.” By the time the set was ending, the venue appeared to be nearing full capacity with fans.

It didn’t take long for the stage to be cleared for the headlining act. The crowd patiently waited with drinks in hand, conversing with each other, and singing along to the rock music being played between sets.

With the pulsing light coming from the flashlight of the tour manager on stage, we knew it was all about to begin. With stage lights dimly lit, the band took the stage with instruments in tow. Soon after frontman, Art Alexakis made his first appearance on stage, the track audio portion to the beginning of “So Much for the Afterglow” was played through the sound system. Soon after this clever diversion ended, the band hit off the night with “Elektra Made Me Blind” of their album Sparkle and Fade. This high-energy song was followed by the hit, “Everything to Everyone,” which had the crowd jumping up and down with the band during the chorus. During the set, Art would get the crowd involved, and would take slight offense with a less than optimum response, and jokingly told the crowd, “they sounded more like North Carolina than South Carolina.” The crowd wasn’t going to take that diss, and then proceeded to cheer loudly to Art’s satisfaction.

As the band is celebrating the 30th anniversary of World of Noise, the band included a few songs off that album, including “Loser Makes Good,” “Nervous and Weird,” and “Blondes” which originally appeared on the band’s White Trash Hell EP. While it has been 30 years since these songs were first created, there were plenty of Everclear fans in sight singing along with the meaningful lyrics to each of these songs. Along with fan favorites and radio hits such as “Father of Mine,” “I Will Buy You a New Life,” “Heroin Girl,” and “Wonderful,” the band also snuck in a few others in the set, closing the night with “Santa Monica.”

The band had a great performance, with each of the band members utilizing the full capacity of the stage floor to make it a memorable evening. Art Alexakis took command of his guitar and made his usual circles towards the drum kit and back to the mic stand a few times during the set. He even boasted on stage that he turned 60 this year, which is quite impressive for a touring rock musician. Guitarist, Davey French, posed on the front monitors as he belted out guitar solos to the songs on each side of the stage. At one point, he went back-to-back with Art at the center mic as they rocked out. Bassist Freddy Herrera took his bass to the next level, delivering the bass lines of the edgy tunes without fail. And there is Josh Crawley on drums. His relentless focus on keeping the band in sync did not go unnoticed. That role is arguably one of the most important instrumentalists in any band.

The 30th Anniversary Tour runs through the end of July, so I highly recommend finding a date that works for you to see a great line-up of bands, and get treated to an evening of solid rock-n-roll. If you can’t catch a date on this tour, Everclear is still performing other various dates and fairs and festivals this summer.

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