I had a great time at the Everclear concert this past Sunday on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. The concert was offered free of charge to anyone who had a ticket to the Grand Prix that day. Tickets started at $25 for general admission and went up from there. Since the concert was all general admission anyway I went for the cheapest ticket as I am not very interested in the car races.

Arriving to the island was a bit tricky because I had to get a round-trip shuttle bus pass as there was no public parking allowed on the island. Trying to catch a bus to get off the island was a whole other story. The system that organizers had in place for getting people onto buses and back to where they parked was horrific and led to long wait times and a lot of disgruntled people.

Everclear was scheduled for 1:35pm to 2:45pm and the weather was great, albeit very hot. This is the first concert I have been to with their new drummer, Tommy Stewart and he did a fantastic job. Tommy is a very animated drummer and is originally from Flint, Michigan as well.

The band performed a lot of songs from their earlier albums “Sparkle and Fade” and “So Much For The Afterglow” as well as some covers such as “Rich Girl” and “Jenny (867-5309).” As it turns out, lead singer Art Alexakis announced that when “Sparkle and Fade” was released in 1995, Detroit, Michigan led the nation in album sales.

I was able to get some awesome pictures from the front row of the concert and was able to talk to the band afterward. I thanked Art for the autographed picture I earned through Search With Everclear and Swagbucks and he was glad to hear they are sending those free items out quickly. I went with a friend of mine who I met at an earlier Everclear concert and we took some great pictures with the band between the two of us.

I think the most surreal moment on Sunday was after the concert was over, I saw Art walking through a big open area all alone with no fans around or anything. I said hi and asked about where his entourage was and he kind of laughed. It certainly isn’t a scenario I would have pictured because I’m such a big fan, but I suppose Everclear is not as popular as they once were – especially in the middle of an island with a car race going on.

There are no more tour dates close to where I live, so this will probably be the last Everclear concert I see this year. Hopefully, the band will do some touring in 2009 around Michigan.

[tags]everclear, art alexakis, davey french, sam hudson, tommy stewart, josh crawley, shaun carter, concert, detroit, grand prix, belle isle, sparkle and fade, so much for the afterglow, songs from an american movie, welcome to the drama club, the vegas years, slowmotion daydream, world of noise[/tags]