Line-up

Venue

Mountain Winery

14831 Pierce Rd., 95070, Saratoga, CA, US

www.mountainwinery.com

Capacity: 2,500

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Additional details

Doors open: 19:30

Concert in your area for Rock, Metal, and Indie & Alt.

Find out more about Rock and Metal.

Everclear biography

Everclear is an alternative rock band originally from Portland, Oregon and was formed by Art Alexakis who is the only remaining original member.

The group originally consisted of the trio Alexakis as lead vocalist and guitarist, Craig Montoya on bass and Greg Eklund on drums. They found success with their first three full length albums, 'Sparle and Fade', 'So Much for the Afterglow' and 'Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How To Smile' which were all released on Capitol Records.

All three of these releases were certified platinum selling in the States, yet the band couldn't maintain the success for their next two releases and in 2003 both Montoya and Eklund decided to leave the project. Although Alexakis decided to persist with Everclear and released a further two albums with other musicians. Everclear have struggled with promotion campaigns and record label support throughout their career, one of the main reasons American Movie Vol. Two wasn't considered a successful album was due to the fact it was released just four months after the first and the public became confused as to why the band were releasing original material whilst singles were still being promoted from the predecessor.

Similar disputes occurred during the promotion of Slow Motion Daydream due to Alexakis demanding an early solo track that had been toured the previous year be chosen as the lead whilst record bosses were far more keen on 'The New York Times'. The end result meant that neither received consistent backing and the album stalled after passing 100,000 copies and the demise seemed unavoidable after both Greg and Craig decided they were leaving. However Alexakis managed to salvage the reputation of the band and worked on the successes they achieved in the 1990s.

American Hi-Fi biography

American Hi-Fi are a pop-punk band hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, U.S who formed in 1998. Since their debut in 2001 they have released five studio albums and become one of the most beloved pop-punk acts of their generation.

Not many artists ever get to stand in the immediate vicinity of The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards, and even if they did, fewer still would have the guts to even talk to him. However, Stacy Jones was one of the lucky, brave people to talk to the rock legend during a chance meeting with him in a club in the late 90's. It's pretty much safe to say that it went pretty well for Jones. At the time, he was most known as a journeyman drummer who'd played with the likes of Veruca Salt and Letters to Cleo. However, while talking to the bona-fide legend Jones mentioned that he had formed a new band, but couldn't decide on a name. Keef paused for a moment, and then suggested American Hi-Fi. Being a reasonable human being, Jones immediately contacted the rest of the band to say that they now had a name.

Thanks to the connections Jones had made as a member of several seminal indie bands in the 90's, American Hi-Fi secured a record deal with Island Records shortly after forming properly. Their debut single “Flavor Of The Weak” was released in January 2001 and was an immediate commercial success, charting strongly on the Billboard Hot 100 and hurtling into the top ten of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart as well. February 2001 saw the release of their self-titled debut album which was another strong seller that seemingly set them up to be the next big thing on the rock scene. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be the case. While not exactly tanking, their second effort, 2003's “The Art Of Losing”, did very similar business to their debut and by the end of the year, the band had been dropped from Island Records.

Ever since then, the band has remained a cult sensation, with a dedicated world-wide fanbase and three more hugely acclaimed albums to their name. They might not have changed the face of rock music, but all the same, American Hi-Fi come highly recommended.

Live reviews

Everclear is perhaps one of the better renowned bands in the alternative rock movement in the 1990’s, and their live performances still stand strong to this day.
Lead singer, Art Alexakis, has a strong passion for performing music, and you can see his intense dedication of giving his greatest effort in his performances. Some of the best music that has been written is often inspired by intense pain and turmoil, and Art Alexakis has sure experienced his fair share of tragedy. When he was young he experienced the deaths of several people who were very close to him, including his brother who overdosed on drugs. These circumstances would later impact the lyrical style and intense emotional mood of most of Everclear’s songs.
Everclear presents an energetic performance when they are in concert. Art Alexakis plays heavy, distorted chord progressions in an often fast tempo and sings enthusiastically into the microphone. Although Everclear’s songs often tackle intense subject matters such as drug addiction, they are often presented in a pop-punk format consisting of catchy hooks. The crowd is always enthusiastic to see Everclear. They jump up and down to the hard rock performance of “So Much for the Afterglow” and they sing every word to the heart-touching song “Wonderfull”.
Everclear tours every year with the Summerland tour, which is a tour founded by Art Alexakis. During this tour you can expect to catch the performances of many well regarded 90’s alternative rock bands that open up for Everclear including, Sugar Ray, Gin Blossoms, and Lit.

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You have to say that American Hi-Fi is an interesting name for a band - it really doesn’t give much away - but if you’re wondering just what it is that defines this band with such a non-committal name, it’s largely a pop punk sound, that does owe a little bit to the kind of bands that were dominating that particular scene around the time of their 1998 formation - but that also is unmistakably associated with the Boston four-piece, too, not least in the minds of their fans. Over the course of their career to date, they’ve put out just the four studio albums, but that relatively sparse rate of return doesn’t tell the full story. They’ve also collaborated widely, including with Miley Cyrus, who used to call upon three-quarters of American Hi-Fi as her live backing band. Their live shows, too, have become the stuff of legend in the pop punk community, affairs that are both raucous and yet instrumentally tight, too. With album number five, Blood and Lemonade, lined up for a September release, they played their first UK show since 2005 at London’s 100 Club earlier this year; look out for more British dates sooner than later.

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