Review Tuesday: Summerland Tour 2016

There must have been a time warp because I was sucked into the 90s last Friday night! The Summerland Tour consisting of Sponge, Lit, Sugar Ray and Everclear played at The Paramount in Huntington, NY.

SUMMERLAND TOUR

The Paramount Theater

Huntington, NY

July 22, 2016

The SUMMERLAND TOUR was invented by Mark McGrath and Art Alexakis years ago.  Named after an Everclear song, it seemed perfect for a summer tour with acts from the 1990s. 

Doors opened just after 7:00 PM and per Paramount website, Art Alexakis walked onstage just after 8:00 to discuss the tour and announce the first act... 

Sponge

Before the show I would've been lucky if I could think of one song by Sponge. They hit the scene early in the 90s and were probably thrilled to escape Detroit alive. Today, the singer Vinnie (who also referred to himself as Diamond Bob) is the only original member left. They played a 20-25 minute set and sounded great and consisted of MORE than one song that I knew!

Lit

By 9:00 Lit hit the stage. Honestly, this was the band I really wanted to see. They played their hits and some newer songs as well. Their set was about 25-30 minutes long. They sounded great and put on a lively set. My only gripe is that they didn't play Lipstick & Bruises. 

Everclear

I was shocked that Everclear was NOT the headlining act. Mark McGrath introduced the band around 10:00 and Art and the boys hit the stage. They performed a very polished and clean sounding ~40 minute set of all songs you could probably sing along with. Art is the only original member left.

Sugar Ray

Just before 11PM Sugar Ray hit the stage. I'll admit that I was never a big Sugar Ray fan but they had the best sound all night. Every level was perfect. They played all their songs that you will know, as well as several covers, including You're Unbelievable by EMF (and written by the current bassist). Mark had much more host-talent and spent a good amount of time relating to the crowd. 

In conclusion I didn't expect much from a bunch of bands from the 90s which allowed me to walk out with my socks knocked off and glad that I went. Good bands. Good music. Good fun!