Advertisement
The Warfield, San Francisco, Feb. 2, 1999
Snooze-core would be a more appropriate title for this year's
Sno-Core fest. |
In yet another attempt to meld musical fan-bases a la Lollapalooza,
Sno-Core '99 pulled together chart-toppers
Everclear with art-funk groovers Soul
Coughing, old school-style rapper Redman
and experimental turntable shredder DJ Spooky. The
result? Drooping ticket sales that forced the concert to move from
the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium to the Warfield, a venue about
half the size.
Save for a few glowing moments toward the end of Everclear's set
and a steady -- albeit predictable -- show from Soul Coughing,
there was little redeeming value to this lackluster affair, unless
you needed to stock up on condoms. (Rather than the support from
skateboard or snowboard companies, this Levi's-sponsored event was
dominated by Trojan tables and a Soap shoes video booth showing off
footwear that lets you slide down rails in skateboarder
fashion.)
The predominantly Everclear-worshipping crowd mostly ignored the
fast fingers and innovative mixes of DJ Spooky between bands.
Spooky deftly tossed Black Sabbath, Lou Reed, Pink
Floyd and other rock stalwarts into the mix, but the
all-ages audience, peppered with pre-pubescents and their parents,
was not sure how to react.
Redman fared even worse. He and his posse resorted to the tired
"Say ho!" and "Everybody put your hands in the air!" schtick as
they rapped about getting stoned. At best they received a lukewarm
reaction from Everclear fans, though some kids up front were waving
their Redman posters. At first Redman seemed optimistic on this
opening Sno-Core night, saying, "It's not every day we get to
perform for a different crowd." But it didn't take long for
audience indifference to prompt him to shout, "White people, wake
the fuck up!"
Soul Coughing's M. Doughty was in a more playful
mood than he was during his band's recent Bay Area shows,
mischievously shouting, "Are you feeling a foxy feeling?" The band
scored the visual highlight of the night with a screen backdrop
showing old cartoons starring Felix the Cat and Donald Duck. Their
set focused on last year's El Oso, kicking things off with
"Rolling," then into "St. Louise Is Listening," "Fully
Retractable," "Blame," and in mid-set, the more mainstream
"Circles." Despite a burst of life for the band's usual closer,
"Super Bon Bon," the crowd was politely waiting for Everclear.
For a group that has been touring on the same album for more than a
year and a half, Everclear came out sounding sloppy but energized,
riling up most of the crowd. The band's enthusiasm was admirable
considering they've been playing these songs for so long.
Art Alexakis roamed the stage and spent the night
trading off his vintage guitars. Bassist Craig
Montoya also bounced around, while drummer, percussionist,
keyboardist, and second guitarist filled out the sound. As one
audience member put it, "There seem to be a lot of people onstage
for three-chord rock."
Though the set mainly spotlighted So Much for the
Afterglow, Everclear dipped back to their first record,
Sparkle and Fade, yielding a rendition of the melodic
"Summerland." As Alexakis rasped through "Everything to Everyone"
and "I Will Buy You a New Life," and for the encore, "Father of
Mine" and "So Much for the Afterglow," the crowd clapped along with
a heady rock buzz.
At one point during the encore, Alexakis invited people to dance
onstage. The controlled chaos ended without incident. The band
ended the show with Montoya on vocals for the cover of
AC/DC's "Sin City." It was a memorable finish to a
forgettable night.
MARLENE GOLDMAN(February 5, 1999)