Everclear New Zealand Tour 2017
- So Much For The Afterglow 20th Anniversary Tour -
World-renowned, multi-platinum American rockers Everclear are thrilled to announce that they will be touring New Zealand to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their album “So Much For The Afterglow” and shall perform the entire record plus their other hits.
So Much For The Afterglow is their best selling album to date and includes the hit songs “Everything to Everyone,” “I Will Buy You a New Life,” “Father of Mine,” “So Much For the Afterglow,” and “One Hit Wonder,” along with their other hit tracks including; Heroin Girl, Santa Monica, “Wonderful, & AM Radio to name a few.
Everclear shall perform live at The Powerstation on October 1, 2017.
“It’s hard to believe we made this record 20 years ago,” said Art Alexakis in a statement. “Even though I’m in a different place now than the guy who first wrote and sang these songs, and even though faces, voices, and relationships change, the songs still feel relevant and vital every time we play them live. I can’t wait to play the whole record for the first time with the guys in Everclear. It’s going to be awesome!”
Art went onto say “I Love New Zealand, the people there are so genuine, they know how to rock and have a good time, I cant wait to be there again”.
For over two decades, Everclear’s sound has reflected the rock, post-punk, and singer/songwriter influences of Art Alexakis, including acts like X, the Replacements, the Pixies, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, and Elvis Costello. The band found success with their first three albums on Capitol Records, Sparkle and Fade, So Much for the Afterglow, and Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile, which were all certified platinum. In 2015 the band released their ninth studio album titled Black Is The New Black via DO IT Records.
So Much for the Afterglow Album Review.
So Much for the Afterglow remains Everclear's best selling album ever. There are several songs on the album that showcase the group at their best.
The title track So Much for the Afterglow is a wild “song about Susan” that begins with a Beach Boy-esque vocal intro.
Everything To Everyone is a great song, hands down. The pumping bass is catchy, and Art’s lyrics are perfect. “I think you are blind to the fact that the hand you hold is the hand that holds you down.” That line makes clear what the song is about. We all know people in our lives who act like this. The kind of people who try to be loved by all and completely popular. This song is an anthem for all of those who are annoyed by those people.
Ataraxia (Media Intro) (Actually an excerpt from The Relaxed Wife.)
Normal Like You is a perfectly written song about a friend with depression.
Another hit from the album is I Will Buy You A New Life. What’s not to love about this song' It’s a love song, something relatively different for this band. Art’s lyrics are great here once again. “I hate those people who love to tell you money is the root of all that kills, they have never been poor they have never had the joy of a welfare Christmas.” Well said Art.
With so many great songs on here, it was just a matter of picking what would be the next hit.
They went with Father Of Mine. It’s probably the most angsty of all the songs, in which Art tells the story of his terrible father and about how he was never there for him. “Sometimes you would send me a birthday card with a 5 dollar bill, I did not understand you then, and I guess I never will.” That basically sums up how he hates his father.
One Hit Wonder is an all time favorite. It refers to fans as “the monster” and the music industry as “the pretty machine.”
So what else makes the album outstanding' There are so many other great tunes that could have easily made it on the radio if a single had been made.
The ultimate guitar crazed song is El Distorto De Melodica. The guitar playing is wicked. No words here, just laughing every now and then. The riff changes back in forth with solid drumming and nice bass playing. This song won a grammy for best instrumental rock song, and you can’t argue.
Amphetamine is a great punker about a girl similar to the characters in Sparkle And Fade.
White Men In Black Suits, Art sings about a poor black girl he fell in love with who plays in a band and strips for white men to earn money.
Sunflowers, a song all about Art’s daughter.
Why I Don’t Believe In God is not necessarily an atheist song, more like a song about his nutsy mother, as he looks back into his childhood. They prove in that song how good they are in the genre of country rock, something they’ve done before (Heartspeark Dollarsign).
Like A California King is another wonderful track. The main riff is a hybrid between a violin and an electric guitar. “I will burn you like teenage love. I will eat you just like meat. I will watch you burn like a California king.”
Hating You For Christmas is just like the title says, spending the earth’s no. 1 holiday with a person you hate. The whole song is a shock after the serious Like A California King.
I would recommend this album to any fan of 90’s alt rock, as this is a classic of that genre. It’s one of my favorite albums and definitely Everclear’s best.
Everclear perform live at The Powerstation 33 Mount Eden Rd, Grafton, Auckland 1023 on October 1, 2017.
