Sunday night the 90s Summerland Tour rolled through the Mohegan Sun arena. The brainchild of Mark from Sugar Ray and Art from Everclear, the tour brought together some of the top acts of the 90s into one big show – at an affordable rate at that. Non-VIP tickets were $25+fees (“$25 for 25 hits”) and the casino was even running a promotion closer to the show of $10 tickets. (It’s always so nice to get those emails after you’ve already had your ticket for 3 months and paid full price…)
Marcy Playground started off the evening at 7. (For all these years I thought they were “Marcy’s Playground” oops) I am not sure that their sound really worked in the arena setting, but it could have also been because a lot of people had not yet made their way in to the arena yet so it wasn’t easy to get the few people who were inside hyped up. Obviously the biggest reaction was for Sex and Candy which is the only song of theirs I knew and I guess the same went for most of the crowd.
Art & Mark came out before each band to talk a bit about them which I thought was pretty cool. Next up was Lit, probably my least favorite of the night – but keep in mind – while I used to listen to the “alternative rock” (or whatever genre it is – Im not good with labeling) I have turned pretty much exclusively pop and that is probably a lot to do with it. I am also not a fan of excessive swearing during performances and they seemed to throw curse words around to try and get people pumped (your music should do that for you)
Gin Blossoms was up next and Mark said that you should try to find the song that was NOT a hit single in their set list – and he was right. They had way more hits than I even remembered. Their lead singer was all around the stage and even giving out tambourines to the crowd and showing them how to use them. There seemed to be a massive exit after their set – I am not sure if most people were there to see them or if everyone just needed a refill on their beers.
Next up was Sugar Ray – let’s be honest – the reason I went to the show. I realized I am still in love with Mark McGrath and he was the most entertaining front man of all the bands (but maybe Im a bit biased). Their set was short, but Mark talked a lot with the crowd and the band in between songs (something I enjoy.) Ending the set with Fly was perfect – the only thing that would have been more perfect was if Sugar Ray was the last band on the tour and the whole night was ended on Fly. Yes, I did consider leaving before Everclear so the night would end on a high point. (But then the fangirl kicked in and – what if Mark comes back out to sing with them!?)
Through the whole intermission I debated when would be the right time to leave during Everclears set. I originally decided after Father of Mine – but then they did that song first. I actually ended up sticking it out for the entire set. Everclear also had a ton of singles that I didn’t even remember until they played them. They also had some of the other bands come out and join them for the last couple songs (but no Mark). I didn’t realize that Art was now 50 years old. I remember these songs from when I was 12, 13, 14 years old in middle and high school.
Setlists (which might be missing a song or two but for the most part I think I did pretty good with keeping track) under the cut
Marcy Playground
Devil Woman
Poppies
Rock N Roll Heroes
Special
Deadly Handsom Man
St Joe
Punk Rock Superstar
Its Saturday
Sex and Candy
LIT
Four
Miss You Gone
The Last Time Again
Miserable
Ziplock
The Broken
My Own Worst Enemy
Gin Blossoms
Follow You Down
Until I Fall Away
Lost Horizons
Found Out About You
Allison Rd
Million Miles Away
Til I Hear It From You
Hey Jealousy
Sugar Ray
Someday / Groovin
Answer the Phone
Every Morning
When Its Over
Mean Machine / Blitzkrieg Bop
Fly
Everclear
Father of Mine
Everything to Everyone
AM Radio
Heroin Girl
So Much For The Afterglow
I Will Buy You A New Life
Be Careful What You Ask For
Wondeful
Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin)
Santa Monica