January 25, 2025

Everclear – Tuning Fork: January 23, 2025 (13th Floor Concert Review)

Everclear took a sold out audience back in time as they brought some “old school 90s alternative rock & roll” to Auckland’s Tuning Fork.

Front man Art Alexakis is the only original bandmember left from the glory years that produced albums like Sparkle And Fade (1995) and So Much For The Afterglow (1997), but guitarist Dave French has been on board since 2003, bass player Freddie Herrera since 2009 with drummer Brian Nolan, the new guy, having joined in 2018.

Together they are a tight unit and, despite Alexakis’ sore throat, they played with plenty of energy and sounded every bit like those old records (or CDs).

Opening the show was a band from Wellington called Sure Boy. Unfortunately, I missed them due to prior 13^th Floor business, but Art seemed very impressed by them, raving about them throughout his own set and 13^th Floor photographer Azrie was there to capture these images:

Everclear took the stage at 9pm.

“Alright New Zealand, make some fuckin’ noise!” shouted Alexakis as they launched into So Much For The Afterglow.

That’s the noise we came to hear!

The band was tight and Art had plenty of energy, shrugging off his sore throat and giving his all.

The house was full and everyone was suddenly reliving their misspent youth as tunes like Heroin Girl and Everything To Everyone rang through the room.

Father Of Mine inspired a spontaneous singalong which was followed by snippets of Iron Maiden and Led Zeppelin and a round of Happy Birthday to an audience member.

Bassist Freddie Herrara took on some of the between-song banter to give Art a chance to rest his voice.

“You don’t usually hear a bass player talking,” he beamed, “I like it.”

“No one else does” shot back Art, playfully.

The set really kicked into gear with AM Radio, Local God and The Twistinside.

“Covid sucked”, noted Art. (we knew that)…but it has given Alexakis time to get back to songwriting and he promised a new Everclear album to come around in the next year or so.

Of course the evening ended with the familiar riff and lyric of Santa Monica.

With an Australian tour due at the end of the year and a 30th Anniversary Reissue of Sparkle And Fade in the works, it seems very possible that Everclear will be back in Auckland sooner, rather than later.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Azrie: