Review and photos by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
EVERCLEAR / TRIP FANDINO / STUPID BABY
Drifter’s Wharf, Gosford
8th Feb 2023
Everclear are on their 30th Anniversary Tour taking in a whole load of Australian cities and regional towns, and delivering a set that rolls back the years and sees a rough, raucous and loud grunge-punk band delivering classic after classic as if they were all still in their 20’s. Art Alexakis is unchanged, and has had Davey French on guitar for nearly 20 years now, with Freddy Herrera on bass since 2009, and new boy Brian Nolan on the drums for the past five years.
Here in Gosford the show opened with Stupid Baby, a local three piece stoner punk band with charismatic drummer / vocalist., a sludge bass sound, and lots of guitar feedback and general noise. A lot of early Bruce Foxton in the bass player look and sound, and an overall feel bringing Gyroscope, Luca Brasi and After The Fall vibes. The drummer is something of a legend, taking center stage, doing all the singing, and thrashing the kit relentlessly. Then we moved along to Trip Fandino as the main support for some of the NSW dates. Not sure how best to describe this band, but they are a pretty good fit for the support, all terrific musicians, with some great beats and well-crafted melodies, and a very resonant and unique sound from a retro Airline 59 guitar, and the overall effect was sort of an Aussie take on the Seattle sound. Songs to note included Daytime Drinking, a Monster instrumental interlude of drums and fuzz guitars, a funked-up Doomsday Maiden with extended jam section that shows off the skills of all four musicians before the closing chorus. There was a similar feel to Freakshow to close the set, but heavier, with a bit of a RHCP feel in parts, particularly in the excellent pre chorus segment.
The stage was cleared, and out come Everclear……this is the 30th anniversary tour and it was like being transported back to the early 1990s in terms of the rawness and energy that must have been such a buzz in Portland at the time. Art has reverted to singlet-wearing tattooed beast of a frontman, with rough edged vocals and low slung Les Paul. Drummer Brian Nolan is solid as a rock, making the perfect partnership with Freddy Herrera on bass. Guitarist Davey French is Mr Cool with bleach blond hair and Gibson Explorer.
The set list varied a bit from what was written down…..I was miffed that AM Radio did not get a run!
Opening up with Afterglow and Everything to Everyone, we then got a ripper version of Heroin Girl, and a solid Heartspark Dollar Sign, before a slight drop in intensity for Father of Mine.
White Men in Black Suits was sharp, and then a solid drum intro and great backing vocals for Twist Inside, featuring a sparse intro and raucous vocals and the variable tempos so evocative. This features an absolutely ripping middle eight and solo and some sharp twin guitar breaks towards the thrashed up ending.
Davey French kicks off an “ old school punk rock song” in Amphetamine. It was probably 30 degrees outside and about 40 inside the room! We got Loser Makes Good from that first album which has that really wasted feel to it, with chunky riffs and crashing cymbals and that trademark reedy melodic guitar lick over the top! Wonderful was dedicated by Art to everyone with kids, and still stands up a cracking pop song with lots of crowd singalong! There was an acoustic intro to Strawberry from Art and backing harmony vocals but this quickly rolled into a full band chugger of a rock song from the band. Electra also taken from the Sparkle & Fade album, with slices of Nirvana rolled in mid-song, before a song written for the Baz Luhrmann movie of Romeo & Juliet which was a bit of a surprise hit in Australia – Local God.
Art and Davey want to play guitar so they do with Davey soloing over the broken chords from Art before they move into I Will Buy You A New Life which is big and brash and the perfect close to the set.
A quick break and then thunderous drums open up into a massive riff of Summerland, that then sees something in the crowd interrupt the band for the bouncers and others to sort it out, then back into the song with extra vitriol and bite in particular for the Sparkle and Fade refrains.
Then it’s a visceral Santa Monica to finish the show with the whole crowd singing along – what a cracking night in Gosford!
https://www.everclearmusic.com/tour
Everclear
Trip Fandino
Stupid Baby
