Summerland Tour Stops in Atlanta with Everclear, Sugar Ray, Gin Blossoms, Lit, Marcy Playground

Everclear, Sugar Ray, Gin Blossoms, Lit and Marcy Playground performed in a ’90s musical love fest where fans of the ’90s post-grunge-alternative-pop-rock music genre got a chance to relive their glory days out on tour as part of the Summerland Tour.

Review and photos by Danielle Boise

“I feel so blessed to be here today and have Mark as a partner on the Summerland Tour.” – Art Alexakis

It was a ’90s musical love fest  as bands and fans of the ’90s post-grunge-alternative-pop-rock music genre got a chance to relive their glory days out on tour as part of the Summerland Tour, for which they trucked across the US with a lineup that consisted of Everclear, Sugar Ray, Gin Blossoms, Lit and Marcy Playground. Each band performed smaller selection of songs from their catalogs, mostly focusing on their hits, as a reminder to the fans exactly why they fell in love with the bands in the first place.

Neither rain nor superstition stopped the Summerland Tour from hitting Atlanta Friday the 13^th of July, with Marcy Playground, Lit, and the Gin Blossoms who opened for co-headliners, Sugar Ray and Everclear in a 90’s Alternative Rock festival; that left the nearly filled to capacity Chastain Park Amphitheatre with fans who were absolutely thrilled to watch and interact with some of the biggest acts of the that time period.

The pop alternative rock Gods, Gin Blossoms put on a stellar performance, as they played their hits; they started the night off with “Follow,” then precede to play, “Until I Fall Away,” “Ready,” “Found Out,” “Allison.”  Robin Wilson, lead singer, dedicated “Million Miles Away” to the other bands in the Summerland lineup before Gin Blossoms continued to play “Til I Hear” and ended the set with their break out song, “Hey Jealousy” off of their debut studio album, New Miserable Experience.  Wilson really enjoyed performing for the fans, as he paraded around the stage and interacted with the crowd; even giving out several tambourines to enthusiastic fans.

Between the song set, Wilson plugged a charity close to his heart, the “Love, Hope, Strength Foundation” and encouraged the audience to participate with the organization in their fight in the cancer battle. For more information on the rock n roll cancer foundation, visit www.lovehopestrength.org and for more information on Gin Blossoms, visit www.ginblossoms.net.

Art Alexakis came out onto stage to introduce Sugar Ray, who put on a dynamic set as they kicked off the night with “Wipeout,” then transitioned to “Someday,” “Answer,” and “Every Morning,” before Mark McGrath declared “You got one shot at love” before going into “When It’s Over.” The next song they performed was the first single the band ever released, “Mean Machine.” Sugar Ray rounded out the night with “Hip Hop Jump” then ended the night on a perfect note with “Fly.”

“Is anyone having as much as I am?” (cheering crowd of fans) “Then you must be having the time of your lives” declared Mark McGrath as he raised a red foam glass to the crowd with a smile spread across his face.

Sugar Ray were gracious and vibrant performers who thoroughly enjoyed performing for their fans with their cheeky, kind of campy songs with an upbeat tempo, even if the songs were about heart break and end of relationships, that left listeners just dancing in their seats.

For more information on Sugar Ray, visit www.sugarray.com.

Mark McGrath returned the favor and introduced Everclear to the stage, with Art Alexakis declared “Atlanta fucking rules” as Everclear kicked off their set with one of my all-time favorite Everclear songs, “Father of Mine.”

The band performed both their new material and classics, as they sang “Everything to Everyone,” “Heroin Girl” and “Heart Spark.” Before going into “I Will Buy You a New Life” Alexakis said that “this song is not about money, but about love and family and keeping the dream alive,” then Alexakis said that he felt grateful that his wife and daughter where in audience Friday night at Chastain. After the sentimental moment, Everclear continued with their set list and played “Be Careful What You Ask For,” “Wonderful,” followed by a great mash-up of the Led Zeppelin’s “Been a Long Time” and Tommy Tutone’s “867-5309/Jenny,” in which they asked about 30 women goes up on stage and dance around as they performed the song. Everclear ended the night with their hit, “Santa Monica.”

The fans loved the music and atmosphere and the band thoroughly enjoyed performing for them with intensity. I have to say, that for this one performance, they were a little off and didn’t sound anything like their CDS; in fact Alexakis had the audience sing quite a bit of the material along with him and in some places instead of him. Even with that said it was fun performance and one that every fan should take advantage of and see out on this tour.

For more information on Everclear, visit www.everclearonline.com or for more information on the Summerland Tour, visit www.summerlandtour.net to find out where they will be performing next.