Everclear are currently on a massive seventeen date tour of Australia. The band are celebrating their 30th anniversary and tonight they play Sydney’s Crowbar. It’s a sold out show and I mean sold out. The venue was an absolute sweat box!

The American alternative rockers walked on stage to huge cheers from the full capacity crowd. Starting off their set with “so much for the afterglow”. Then followed it up with another big radio hit “everything to everyone”, with the crowd in full voice early on. Vocalist Art Alexakis explained “I used to know a girl, she had two pierced nipples and a black tattoo” as the room’s energy erupted for “heroin girl”.

What followed was a setlist celebrating the band’s huge career. “Father of mine” helped the audience tap into their youthful angst. Getting to hear “the swing” taken from the Scream 2 soundtrack was a welcome surprise. Art dedicating “wonderful” to all the parents in the crowd tonight.

We got to hear their new politically charged song “year of the tiger” which was only the second time they’d played it in front of people. “Local god” was introduced by Art as the song that paid for his second house and second divorce. Telling us that the song had success in Australia due to being used in Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 movie Romeo and Juliet. The set ended with “I will buy you a new life” another beloved crowd favourite with Art revealing to us it’s a song about love not about money.

This wasn’t to be the end of the show as the band returned to the stage for an encore welcomed back by the rowdy crowd. The encore delivered us the biggest sing along of the night for “Santa Monica”, their ocean sized signature song. With the set finishing on a high energy cover of Nirvana’s “molly’s lips”. Tonight in Sydney, Everclear sparkled with no signs of fading anytime soon.        

(Photos by Christian Ross)