Five Things You Need To Know About Attending The Summerland Tour

Nineties nostalgia is at an all-time high, and one of the tours that’s cemented itself as a summer staple for 90s music aficionados is the Summerland Tour. Organized by Everclear, the tour focuses on guitar driven rock bands from the era, with this year’s installment featuring Soul Asylum, Eve 6, and Spacehog, in addition to the aforementioned Everclear.

The Summerland Tour hit Irving Plaza in NYC last night, and as a 90s rock fan I was front and center. Here’s what I learned about the tour...

1) The tour operates on old people hours

You know how a lot of times when a show advertises the doors are at 6:30pm it means that’s when security laughs at the three people who believed they’d actually start letting people in at that hour, and the show really starts many many hours later? In the case of the Summerland tour, not only were the doors opened at 6:30pm, the first act of the night, Space Hog, went on a little before 7:30pm. With rapid equipment changes between sets, the night was over at the shockingly reasonable hour of 11pm.

Personally, I’m a fan of respecting the time on the flyer, and really appreciated the way none of the bands kept us waiting. Perhaps with a predominantly 30+ crowd they realize most everyone has to wake up for work. Regardless of the reason, the moral of the story is, if you’re planning on attending the Summerland Tour, show up on time!

2) The sets are short, but jam packed

Spacehog, Eve 6, and Soul Asylum each had 30 minute sets, for which they played six to seven songs. Everclear had closer to a 45 minute set, and reeled off somewhere in the neighborhood of ten songs. This made for quite a few “greatest hits” sets, each moving at a blistering pace. It also gave the night a very cool 90s rock radio feel. It was almost like turning on your favorite radio station from 20 years ago, and listening to them go through a block of great music with no interruptions.

As an added bonus, all the bands on this tour sound just as good now as they did back then, especially Soul Asylum, who were, in my opinion, the best of an excellent group of acts.

3) During “Somebody to Shove” no one shoves anyone

Speaking of Soul Asylum, perhaps it’s because I’ve recently attended a number of shows where I was significantly older than the average age of the crowd, I expected some fun loving shoving when they broke into “Somebody to Shove.” Alas, there was no shoving to behold, as the entire audience enjoyed the show non-violently. I’m sure this was a welcome sight to the security at Irving Plaza, who had a relatively easy night, but for some weird reason, maybe I can chalk it up to not wanting to see my generation’s youth completely extinguished, I was a bit saddened. That being said, the song still kicks serious ass!

4) Cell phones aren’t constantly being raised in the air

Something that didn’t sadden me at all about the crowd at this show was the noted lack of cell phones being raised in the air. The cell phone in the air has become the bane of many concert goers’ existence. Imagine you’ve found the perfect place to stand, and then half the audience holds up their stupid phones in an attempt to get footage of every second of the show. On this particular night I only saw the phones come out for a select song or two of each artists’ set, and next to no one was trying to record video. Everyone wanted their one photographic memory from seeing each band, and then went on about actually enjoying the show. Imagine that, people at a concert who want to see the concert! It’s a revelation! Can I get a hallelujah?

5) Eve 6 loves you more than your parents do

Even with the rapid fire style of the sets, each band still found time to speak with the audience, and when Max Collins went into a quick, heartfelt, speech before playing “Here’s To The Night” he did what a lot of artists do, which is tell the audience how much the band loves and appreciates them. Collins, however, took it one, hilarious, step further, saying, “We love you quantifiably more than your parents do.” Personally, I had no idea Eve 6 felt this way about me, or any of us, but it’s good to know Max Collins and crew care.

* Final Verdict

This year’s installment of the Summerland Tour is yet another fantastic flashback to when modern rock had a special place in our hearts, on the radio, and in our cassette decks and CD players. Every act reminds you of what you loved about the era. If you enjoy 90s rock (and if you don’t, there’s something wrong with you), the Summerland Tour a great way to spend a night.