Review: Everclear

Tuesday night's show at the Midland theater was the second in 19 months for Art Aleksakis and the ever-changing lineup of Everclear, and you could have attended both of those shows and spent less than $10 on admission.

In June 2008, the band played a free show at the Kansas City Live stage in the Power and Light District. Tickets for Tuesday's show were $9 and change, unless you were among the many who picked up comps and got in again for free. Either way, it's fair to say that both times, fans got their money's worth.

Last night's show lasted about 70 minutes, and it was plagued by a few issues. Alexakis was apparently having some voice problems; either that or he is fond of sore-throat spray, which he applied several times.

Compounding that were the sound mix in the usually clean and reliable Midland, which was rough and uneven, and the band's raggedness. Loose and raw is one thing; sloppy is another. "Sounds like bad karaoke versions," a friend said. And several did, especially the cracked rendition of "Heroin Girl."

That karaoke feeling was even heavier during the classic-rock-riff interlude in the middle of the show in which each member of the five-piece band played "name that tune" with instrumental bits from songs by Judas Priest, Queen, Scorpions, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. Those followed a cover of Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl," during which Aleksakis stirred up a clap-along/sing-along. So for about five minutes, the august theater felt like Howl at the Moon.

The crowd of about 900 (only the floor and mezzanine were open) didn't seemed too bothered by the sound or the casual performance. The show's better moments came when the band delivered straight versions of the songs from its two best albums, "Sparkle and Fade" and "So Much for the Afterglow": "Father of Mine," "Amphetamine," "Heartspark Dollar Sign" and "Santa Monica." Other songs on the setlist included "Portland Rain," "White Men in Black Suits" "A.M. Radio" and "Wonderful."

Alexakis is an accomplished lyricist, particularly when writing about the trials and tribulations of lower-middle class lives. Some of his lyrics are blue-collar poems about divorce, addiction, alienation.  That's one reason he remains connected to fans after 18 years. His words don't fall out of fashion.

Musically, though, he relies on just a few templates to write and arrange his songs and the similarities among them are evident when you hear a dozen or more in one sitting -- a sameness that even an acoustic/unplugged version of "Songs From an American Movie, Part 1"  didn't break.

If he was feeling poorly, Alexakis tried hard to hide it (save for the throat spray). Before the two-song encore -- "Everything to Everyone" and "I Will Buy You a New Life" -- he thanked the crowd earnestly, name-checked the sponsoring radio station (Mix 93.3) and invited everyone back to the merch table to shake hands and say hello -- no purchase necessary. Good move. Around here, fans must be getting accustomed to not spending much money when his band comes to town.

The openers

You couldn't have picked two bands more different than the headliner, and both got warm responses. Clayton Senne is a pop-soul singer from Orlando, Fla., who does a kind of Jason Mraz thing at the piano. The other was a Kansas City singer/songwriter, Patrick Lentz, who showed off his pop-soul/R&B chops -- he and his band sounded like a meatier version of Maroon 5. He put down the night's best cover: of Hall  Oates' "Rich Girl."

| Timothy Finn, The Star

Comments

[XXX]

Can the County Fair shows be far behind? Aleksakis is a standup guy, I'd say he genuinely likes doing these shows, regardless of the status of his band, etc. He has always been very gracious to the crowd when they've performed here. Taking the time to hang out w/ the crowd after the show is definitely not possible for larger acts, but says a lot about the artist and their priorities. I hope he keeps on earning a living doing what he apparently loves.

[Clint]

I am not sure if he was sick or not...to me it sounded like he was very drunk. He was missing words all over the place and when he spoke it was pretty bad.

& the sound mix was pretty mad, more at the start of the set than at the end.

[Clint]

I am not sure if he was sick or not...to me it sounded like he was very drunk. He was missing words all over the place and when he spoke it was pretty bad.

& the sound mix was pretty mad, more at the start of the set than at the end.

[gsp]

I thought he was a "clean & sober" kind of guy?

[Thanks for the laugh!]

"The crowd of about 900 (only the floor and mezzanine were open) didn't seemed too bothered by the sound or the casual performance."

That's because they're Everclear fans! They wouldn't know quality music if it sat on their face and wiggled.

[T Acosta]

The opening band,Patrick Lentz, was amazing! "Rich Girl" cover and the last song "Tell Me What You Want", were my favorites of the night!

[Geordan]

I said this in the earlier Everclear announcement on this blog, but it's really time that Art takes a little time off, re-evaluates his career and attempts to come up with an interesting solo project.....and perhaps clean up his act, if indeed drink or drugs were involved in this less than stellar performance.

I never thought Everclear was the best band in the world, but there were some good songs spread out through their discography and Art seems like a good guy and has shown love for KC in interviews. You gotta give him points for that. I think the man has a solid solo album or two in him. Here's hoping..........

[bob]

" I think the man has a solid solo album or two in him."

He did the solo thing and it tanked. That is why he brought back a bunch of other guys and still calls it Everclear.

[Mike]

Worst concert I've ever been to. However, Art seems like a nice guy.