Last night I got to see one of my favorite bands...Everclear. I had only seen them one time in concert and they were opening for Sugar Ray and Matchbox 20. There's just something about angst and bitterness that makes for excellent music.

The show started off with three hits: So Much for the Afterglow, You make Me Feel Like a Whore and AM Radio. From there the show slowed down as they played their new single Hater and an older song that I didn't recognize. I think it was Fire Maple Song. The show took an acoustic turn as the band played Songs From an American Movie, Vol. 1. It was Art's mom's birthday so he got everyone to sing Happy Birthday to her. She died in February and it was the first birthday he was without her. It was obvious he was a little choked up. Art finished up with another acoustic song that I don't remember.

After the acoustic break, the band started with another single off of the new album, Glorious. Everclear then went into "hit mode" playing Everything to Everyone, Wonderful, When It All Goes Wrong Again, I Will Buy You a New Life and Santa Monica. The encore included Heroin Girl and Father of Mine followed by a second encore where the band covered 867-5309/Jenny. The cover was not particularly good even with all the girls on stage dancing. Let's just say Everclear didn't bring out the best of Tuscaloosa women.

The most disappointing part of the night was the lack of participation and enthusiasm by the crowd. Until Everclear got to the radio songs, most of the people were just standing there like dopes. No cheering, no dancing, no nothing. It wasn't until I Will Buy You a New Life that the crowd got rowdy and stayed there for the rest of the show.

It wasn't Cowboy Mouth, but it was still a good show. Too bad the audience drained some of the energy out of the show.