Everclear has been around for more than three decades, and they just released their first official live album: Live at the Whisky A Go Go. PopCulture.com recently had the chance to catch up with frontman Art Alexakis to chat about the album and what’s been going on with the band lately. During our conversation, we asked the singer about some of the most memorable live shows he’s ever seen, and after revealing some amazing concerts he’s attended, Alexakis told us that he once saw an iconic ’90s rock band play in the earliest days of their career.
“Cheap Trick in ’78 at the Santa Monica Civic,” Alexakis shared, recalling past shows he’s been lucky enough to catch, then going on to share a fascinating story from before his days in Everclear. “One that really sticks out is in 1986, this band that I used to play in and I quit, the singer wanted me to come see him with the new guitar player… I wanted to see the guy that replaced me because I was the lead guitar player, I wasn’t the singer, I sang backups and played lead in this country-rock, more punk-y country band.”
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The guitarist continued, “There was no one there at this club called the Music Machine in West LA, there was probably about 20 people there if even that, in a club that probably holds 600, 700, maybe 800 people. Because it was new music night, right? We were about to leave and my friend was like, ‘No, there’s a band up next and I think there’s a girl singer in it, and she might be hot. Let’s check them out.’ I go, ‘Cool.’ He was talking about Jane’s Addiction.”
Alexakis then shared, “I’ve talked to (Jane’s Addiction drummer) Stephen Perkins about this, it was their second show. It was like seeing Led Zeppelin in a club for the first time. Everybody in that club’s jaw was like, ‘What the f— was that?’ It was just unbelievable. So I have to say that one.”
Speaking about their own live show, which fans can hear on Live at the Whisky A Go Go, Alexakis shared that the band was excited to record their set at the legendary venue, and revealed that they did very little editing during the mixing phase. “Back in the day, like Kiss Alive!, the first Kiss Alive!, all recorded in the studio, all of it,” he said. “No one knew it, but it’s true. I know the people that were there, it’s true. Frampton Comes Alive!, all those famous live albums, in the studio.”
Offering some other live albums he thinks deserve to be praised, Alexakis said, “The first one is The Who Live at Leeds. Phenomenal record, almost created heavy metal on that record… Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore, pretty f—ing special… [and] Humble Pie Live at the Fillmore, and the lead guitar player is a 17-going-on-18-year-old Peter Frampton, dude. Raging, raging.”
Alexakis continued, “That record f—ing rules, just rules. But in that same… Cheap Trick, they just put out on their website — on their own — they put out an album that’s live, and when I say just put out, last fall, before we recorded this, them live in early ’77 before In Color came out, them live at the Whiskey… It’s raging, it is so good, if you’re a Cheap Trick fan.”
Finally, Alexakis told us that the performance video for Everclear’s “Heroin Girl” — seen above — is not the only footage from their live alum that fans will get to see, as they have “video of the whole show” which will be released at an undetermined later date. Everclear’s Live at the Whisky A Go Go is out now. The band is currently on tour, as well, with The Ataris and Pink Spiders joining them on the road. Click here for links to concert tickets, album streams, merch, and more, including a link to watch Everclear’s music video for the powerful new studio track “Sing Away.”
