Photos and review by: Jason Robey

CHARLOTTE, NC — The Neighborhood Theatre was packed to the brim well before show time on Thursday night with a crowd ready for a celebration of 90s alternative rock. Everclear brought their tour celebrating the 30th-anniversary of their breakthrough album Sparkle & Fade to Charlotte, promising an evening filled with high-voltage rock and warm memories for the sold-out crowd. 

The show kicked off with a short, but highly energetic set from fellow 90s rockers Sponge. The familiar note bending of “Wax Ecstatic” rang through the venue as frontman Vinnie Dombroski led the Detroit crew through a tight burst of their signature grit and melody. Their limited stage time made for a lightning round of a half dozen of the group’s best known tracks, moving quickly through favorites like “Molly (16 Candles)”  and “Glue.” Naturally, the band saved their 1994 smash hit “Plowed” for the end of their performance, complete with enthusiastic cheering and singing along from the crowd. The brief set left everyone wanting more, but also perfectly served the job of warming the audience up for the night ahead.

Local H kept the vibe rolling with 45 minutes of punchy power-chords and thunderous drums as swirling guitar feedback exploded into “High-Fiving MF.” The Illinois duo delivered their brand of abrasive rock with confidence, filling the room with a sound far bigger than their size would suggest. Frontman Scott Lucas owned the space with gritty vocals and sharp riffs while drummer Ryan Harding pounded driving rhythms through a set that leaned mostly on the band’s 90s output. As their set wound down, even those in the crowd who didn’t know the band by name were singing along to their alternative radio staple “Bound For the Floor,” which included an interlude of The Stooges’ punk classic “TV Eye.”

Just as the clock struck 10:00, Everclear appeared on the stage, jumping straight into the first three songs from the album of honor, starting with the jangling chords of “Electra Made Me Blind.” As the audience knew the band would play Sparkle & Fade in its entirety, frontman and sole original member Art Alexakis teased the band’s biggest hit and fourth song on the album, “Santa Monica” by starting the audience in a sing along of the song’s chorus. He quickly switched gears into “Father of Mine,” one of the few songs they would play from elsewhere in their discography.

Alexakis took a few opportunities to reflect on his life and career, sharing anecdotes about a few songs along the way. Most notably, he introduced “Strawberry” as an ode to temptation, as he celebrates 46 years sober. The show had its lighter moments when the band played snippets of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” and Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” before settling into what would be side two of the album with “The Twistinside.” They closed the set with the rarely played album closer, “My Sexual Life,” barely leaving the stage before returning for the encore. They visited the So Much For the Afterglow album with its title track, followed by “I Will Buy You a New Life,” before finally closing the night and catapulting the audience into a dancing frenzy with the long-awaited “Santa Monica.”  The band will continue to take this celebration of one of the biggest albums of the 90s around the US through mid-November, before closing the year out with a month of shows in Australia.