Everclear - Gig Review & Photo Gallery 3rd Feb @ Miami Marketta, Gold Coast QLD
Everclear - 30th Anniversary Tour
Miami Marketta, Gold Coast
February 3, 2023
Support: Fake News
30 years of Everclear!
The boys from Everclear are back touring Australia right now for their 30th Anniversary! We went down to Miami Marketta on the Gold Coast to catch the band at Studio 56. This was my first time at the venue. It’s the one venue I was still yet to check out on the GC and I was met with food trucks, stalls and delicious treats, the smell of what seemed like 500 different delicious things to eat – a carnival of smells and delights. The bustle and rumble of conversation and laughs of the crowd, the heat and humidity hanging in the air but deterring no one.
I made my way around to Studio 56 – Miami Marketta’s indoor music space. I was pleasantly surprised at just how good this venue is; it even has air conditioning, which does make difference packed in shoulder to shoulder with 500+ people!
The night kicked off with support Band local punk superstars Fake News; a Queensland punk band formed in 2017 from different parts across the East Coast of Australia. I really love this band. I have been following and shooting them for a few years now, and every time they play live they just seem to keep getting better. Big Jumps and big thumps are the theme for Fake News.
The band opened with my personal favourite ‘Checking In’, and smashed out some of their newer stuff like ‘Everyday Warrior’ and ‘No Innocence’, including their latest release ‘Nothing Town’, which you should totally check out. In between sets, the crowd thinned inside Studio 56, punters racing out to the Night Market for drinks and a last-minute feed before the big guns graced the stage.
By 8.20pm the room was alive with the buzz and excitement from all waiting to relive the hits and memories that is Everclear. And then the lights went down. The packed in crowd hushed for a moment, quiet and waiting.
And with a bang out they came and jumped straight into 'So Much For The Afterglow'. What a song to kick off with!! The crowd screamed and cheered and sang right along with the band. It was hot. It was humid. Sweat was pouring off everyone (band included). It's always so much hotter on stage, but as far as their performance went – you wouldn’t know it – not once did they falter. Everclear delivered us a full 1-hour set of all our favourites and a bunch in between.
‘Father of Mine’ has always been a popular one. It has always been a favourite of mine. Standing on the edge of the crowd at the barrier, screaming out the words with the band and the crowd was just one of those perfect moments. Frontman Art Alexakis held the mic up to the audience beckoning the crowd to sing that next verse – and they did! Bassist Freddy Herrera was clearly having the time of his life, which after 30 years and more of music is wonderful to see! Such an energetic performance with air jumps and twirling that bass around like it was nothing! Dave French on lead guitar did a stellar job of playing up to the crowd giving us a wicked solo or two. We didn’t get to see too much of drummer Sean Winchester, as he was tucked away, but damn you could hear those drums.
I managed to push through to make my way into the middle of the crowd right on the barrier. Hair and arms flying everywhere, everyone jumping and dancing to the same beat, at the same time, all screaming out the words to their favourite songs. The hits kept rolling with ‘Everything for Everyone’, ‘I Will Buy You a New Life’, Wonderful’ and ‘Heroin Girl’ bringing back nostalgic memories and just when we all thought it was over, the band gave us an encore to remember with ‘Summerland’, ‘Santa Monica’ and a sweet cover of ‘Molly’s’ Ups’ by The Vasolines.
30 years ago a lot of us were teenagers. Those years can be confusing. Full of hopes and dreams and things we don’t quite understand yet. The music that we discover and love sticks with you. It almost becomes a part of you - like the soundtrack of your life. It’s funny how music can take you back in time to a time you’d forgotten. It gives voices to those thoughts and feelings when those teenage years were hard. We were all going through our own shit that we didn’t understand, trying to navigate and process events and feelings even adults struggle to deal with.
I still have my original CD copy of Sparkle and Fade. I can remember the day I bought it like it was yesterday and my love for Everclear has never waned. There are some songs I haven’t listened to in a long long time and I decided this week to give them a whirl. Those memories – the big beautiful chaos of those formative teenage years, came flooding back and hit like a steam train.
Everclear still have shows rolling out all across the country. If you don’t have tickets yet – grab your mates, relive those years and get one because it’s a show worth seeing.
Setlist
So Much for the Afterglow
Everything to Everyone
Heroin Girl
Heartspark Dollarsign
Father of Mine
Nervous & Weird
White Men in Black Suits
The Twistinside
Amphetamine
Loser Makes Good
Wonderful
Strawberry
AM Radio
Local God
I Will Buy You a New Life
Encore
Summerland
Santa Monica
Molly's Lips (The Vaselines cover)
Photo Gallery by Bec O’Reilly. Find Bec on Facebook and Instagram.
Please credit Wall of Sound and Bec O’Reilly if you repost.
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Everclear - 30th Anniversary Australian Tour
