For its inaugural Rock the Block festival, Joliet’s The Forge teamed up with the Summerland Tour – the alt-rock concert series founded by Everclear frontman Art Alexakis – to treat concert-goers to a Saturday night show featuring three rock bands that dominated the radio waves in the mid-1990s and beyond. Everclear and Marcy Playground delivered hit-filled performances and Chicago’s own Local H kicked-off the June 16 festivities with a scorcher of a set.
The duo – comprised of vocalist/guitarist Scott Lucas and drummer Ryan Harding – pulled from their latest studio album, 2015’s Hey, Killer, to open the show with the deliciously cynical powerhouse “The Misanthrope” before displaying their softer side with the 1996 hit “Eddie Vedder.” Chicago area residents know their city is second to none and Local H provided Rock the Block attendees with the opportunity to display their bi-coastal outrage with the anti-L.A. anthem “California Songs.” “Very good,” Lucas said after the crowd united to shout out the cathartic lyric, “And f*ck New York too.”
Local H shared their latest single “Innocents” mid-set along with a raucous rendition of “Fritz’s Corner” and a sing-along inducing performance of their As Good As Dead hit “Bound for the Floor.” The set-closer of “High-Fiving MF” and the pulsing and ominous “Hands on the Bible – featuring not one, not two, but three drummers as Everclear’s Brian Nolan and Marcy Playground’s Shlomi Lavie joined the stage – were further highlights of the duo’s set.
Marcy Playground also delivered a diverse setlist spanning their entire discography. John Wozniak sang of “Rock and Roll Heroes” and a “Punk Rock Superstar” before reminiscing about “Good Times.” Everclear bassist Freddy Herrera was all smiles as he joined Lavie in the rhythm section while Wozniak dropped rockin’ riffs on the guitar. Later, “Sex and Candy” – the group’s 1997 mega-hit – provided one of the biggest collective sing-alongs of the entire night.
Alexakis was an ever-present force of rock enthusiasm throughout the night introducing each act and spinning some of the biggest hits of the 1990s with the Boys of Summerland, but nothing matched fans’ excitement in seeing him take the stage with Everclear. “So Much for the Afterglow,” “Everything to Everyone” and “Heroin Girl” had attendees singing and cheering along from the very start of their headlining set.
A shout out to 1995 Metro-goers and a requested performance of “Learning How to Smile” were especially memorable moments as Alexakis and company appeared to be having as much fun on stage as fans were in the audience. “Father of Mine,” “Santa Monica” and “Wonderful” further displayed Everclear’s uncanny ability to turn darkness into beautiful melodies.
The Summerland Tour and The Forge’s Rock the Block proved to be a match made in rock and roll heaven as the open air street fest brought three crowd-pleasing performances right to the heart of Downtown Joliet. The Summerland Tour will continue to rock across America with upcoming stops in Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles before concluding at The Cave in Big Bear Lake on July 1.
Check out photos from the Joliet show below and more information about the Summerland Tour can be found at www.summerlandtour.net.
(Photos by Laurie Fanelli)