Everclear

Kaaboo 9/14/18

Kaaboo 2018 Wristband

Attending all three days of Kaaboo the previous year was a little too much standing in the sun, drinking and spending a shit ton of money so Ingrid and I decided to cut it down to just one of the days this year. Based on the lineup of Everclear, Incubus, Blondie and Foo Fighters the day that was decided upon was Friday. Unfortunately Ingrid had to bail out at the last minute and sell her ticket due to an impromptu bachelorette party in Vegas.

The Charter Bus worked out well last year so I decided to do that again instead of paying for a surge priced Uber or staying sober and driving. After sucking down a tall boy of Bud Light on the way, our bus rounded the last corner to the Del Mar Fairgrounds to reveal a line of people trying to get in that nearly stretched to that intersection. I could not believe what I was seeing but thankfully there was a far shorter line near the bus drop off point because Everclear was set to kick off the festival about 10 minutes later. Even that line was moving slowly but moments later a festival worker announced that there was a line specifically for people without a bag that was empty. It is baffling to me that an expensive festival that expected 40,000 people could be so disorganized but what can you do?

I got in just in time to grab a cold 16-ounce Corona for $13 as Everclear took the stage around 2 pm. I had not seen Everclear for 17 years and had all but stopped paying attention to any new Everclear material since So Much For the Afterglow so I did not know what to expect. What I got was a band that passed as Everclear but did not go as full force as they could have with the songs at their disposal. I loved that nearly their whole set was songs from Sparkle and Fade and So Much For the Afterglow and it was great to hear those songs live again (especially “Heroin Girl”) but despite Art Alexakis’ best efforts the songs still sounded slightly lackluster. Maybe it was just impossible to impress me because of that time I saw them tear the roof off the place when they opened for Filter about two months before they hit it big with “Santa Monica” back in the day.

Near the end of the Everclear set I met up with Larry and basically just kept drinking and wandering around until Larry’s wife Christi showed up because the next band I wanted to see was Incubus and they were not on until just after 6. We went to watch comedian Tom Papa and quickly realized it was more of a plug for bread baking then it was a comedy show so we caught a little of The Zombies set before more drinking and wandering around ensued.

Close to the time Incubus was to go on I was reminded that every time there are too many people in one spot the woman’s bathroom line is always crazy and there are always a few brave women willing to go into the men’s bathroom. One particular pair of younger girls in front of us were not going into the bathroom to use the toilet but rather to go do some coke with a 70 year old billionaire. After we exited the bathroom Christi and Larry started chatting with them and the gold digging vibe was making me sick to my stomach so I ended up basically ditching them and standing by myself for Incubus because Kyle had come in later and found Larry and Calvin and Jane never returned my text.

This was to be my seventh time seeing Incubus but I had not seen them for nine years. Their newest effort was the album 8 that was released a year earlier but other than “No Fun” they stuck to older songs and treated us to a one/two punch of “Calgone” and a great cover of “Need You Tonight” by INXS. I feel like Incubus made the most of their limited time and age was not about to slow them down. Not that they are old by any means but they were still sounding fantastic playing the shit out of their songs with passion and enthusiasm after all these years.

SETLIST: Privilege, Anna Molly, Meglomaniac, A Kiss to Send Us Off, Circles, Pardon Me, No Fun, Love Hurts, Calgone, Need You Tonight (INXS), Are You In?, Nice to Know You, Wish You Were Here, Drive, A Crow Left of the Murder

Next up was Blondie. Even though there are only five Blondie songs I really like I was excited to see them because I had never seen them before. After getting a round of applause for basically telling some jerk chick trying to cut in front of everyone in the beer line to fuck off I got to see a 73 year old Debbie Harry do her thing. She was still pretty spry but something was just missing for me from the band as a whole. I got to see “One Way or Another,” “Rapture,” and “Call Me,” but had to get my ass to the other stage to see Foo Fighters so I missed “Heart of Glass” and “The Tide Is High.” At least I got to see someone playing the keytar before I left.

Once I made my way to where the Foo Fighters were playing I ran into Christi and Sierra. Larry, Kyle and Sierra’s boyfriend had gone to get beers so I just waited there and watched the Foo with that group. This was my eighth time seeing Foo Fighters but this time was not like the last time I saw them a year earlier at a festival made up of strictly rock and roll bands that they headlined. This was a diverse group of bands gathered so they knew their audience and filled the limited set time with mostly hits. To be fair they do have a lot of hits. Regardless of this a Foo show is always packed with energy and surprises. Taylor’s drum riser literally started rising during a drum solo tacked onto the end of “My Hero” that lead into him singing “Sunday Rain.” The most rocking song I got out of them was “The Sky Is a Neighborhood” but the most fun moments started near the end when Dave sang Van Halen’s “Jump” over the music of “Imagine” by John Lennon. It matched up surprisingly well. After that we got a little “Hey Ho, Let’s Go” from the Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” followed by a full on cover of Queen’s “Under Pressure” with Dave climbing behind the drum kit to let Taylor come out front and sing after he proclaimed, “Here’s one Vanilla Ice stole from Queen and we’re taking it back.” Those moments made the whole day worthwhile.

SETLIST: All My Life, Learn to Fly, The Pretender, The Sky Is a Neighborhood, These Days, Walk, My Hero, Sunday Rain, Another One Bites the Dust/Imagine/Jump/Blitzkrieg Bop, Under Pressure, Monkey Wrench, Best of You, Everlong

Big Stink 6 8/5/01

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Much like Rockfest this concert was also a ways away from Portland. Lucinda and I journeyed about an hour the opposite direction but it was once again well worth it. I bought the ticket just to see The Offspring but wasn’t complaining that Stabbing Westward and Everclear were there as well. Nickelback was also there and on the verge of coming into mainstream consciousness with their song “How You Remind Me.” I’ll admit that I like that song but am not a fan of Nickelback. I only caught about 10 minutes of their set and I do believe they were on the second stage. It is pretty funny since they turned out to be one of the most commercially successfully bands of the 2000’s and one of the most made fun of as well. I learned about Stabbing Westward because Rose was a huge fan. I like a handful of their songs and they put on a decent show from the second stage. This was my third time seeing Everclear but this occasion was different. They thickened their live sound by adding two members from the Sweaty Nipples to play percussion and guitar respectively. This was still in essence a hometown show for them so they put their best foot forward much to the delight of the audience. The closers were The Offspring. Jack insisted I listen to the Smash album after he learned of them from the single “Come Out and Play.” The Offspring became a friend favorite from that moment forward but I never had the chance to see them until this show. They were touring for the album Conspiracy of One by this time but didn’t hesitate to go deep into their catalog. From the moment they took the stage until the time they went off the whole place was insane. They just played fast three-minute songs one right after another. The entire floor area was a mosh pit and I especially enjoyed the songs they played from Ixnay on the Hombre.

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Big Stink 4 8/8/99

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Remember that other rock station in Portland I told you about? This was their summer rock festival. This was my second concert at the Portland Meadows and Roscoe and I drove down from Kennewick. The first band that I wanted to see was Zebrahead. I liked them based on their album Waste of Mind. They played on the second stage and with a very high amount of energy. They touted themselves as “mutherfuckinzebraheadbitch” which was also pretty damn funny. I distinctly remember using the time that Blink 182 was on to get food and chill since I didn’t and still don’t give a shit about them.  After they left we were on to the highlight of the show for me, Orgy. They are the darkest band I have ever seen in the daylight. They just had a very powerful stage presence. They were on tour for their debut album Candyass and this turned out to be the only time I saw them which sucks because I like their unreleased-at-the-time next album Vapor Transmission even better. The next band I wanted to see was Oleander. I started liking them thanks to their song “Why I’m Here.” They were on tour for their first album February Son and they rocked. After they were done the next band up were hometown boys Everclear. This was the second time I saw them but the first since they became huge MTV staples. I think they put on an extra special show since they were in Portland or maybe the stars just aligned but they put on a great show. The headlining band was Deftones. This was the fourth time I saw them and they were only getting better every time I saw them. You have to give them credit for touring their ass off and they still were for Around the Fur.

An interesting sidenote of this show was that I was approached by John Casablancas’ people about modeling. I was semi-interested because at this point I did not know what the hell I was going to do with my life, I knew that the possibility of travel existed and getting paid for hanging around with attractive women didn’t sound that bad either. It’s not that I’m incredible to look at, it’s just that my body type fits the mold and I don’t look like everybody else. This summer I had taken pictures and sent them off to modeling agencies in New York and Los Angeles. I heard back from 2 of the agencies that I sent pictures to, one in NY and one in L.A.

Filter 9/9/95

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The now defunct DV8 was not a big place. Jack had got me into Filter after he had bought Short Bus based on liking “Hey Man Nice Shot.” I was excited because it was another chance to visit Seattle. Me, Marvin, Ryno, Jack, and Jason all went up and again stayed with our friend T-Bone. We had quite a few beers before going into this show and therefore were ready to be rowdy. Everclear opened up for Filter. This was to support their album Sparkle and Fade but the single “Santa Monica” that would propel them to heavy rotation hadn’t yet been released. They rocked very, very hard that night and the energy translation in a place that small was pretty incredible. After they were done with their set Art Alexakis was hanging out in the crowd and Ryno went up to him and was kind of an asshole. He presented his ticket stub to him and asked for an autograph but “on the back so the Filter guy can sign the front.” What a douche. Next up was Filter. If you are a Filter fan you can only imagine the delight of hearing most of the entire first album played to you live in a small place. A delight and reality for us.