Concert review: Everclear w/ Sponge & Local H | 09.26.25, The Family Arena (with photo gallery)

Photo of Everclear’s Art Alexakis by Laura Jerele

Last Friday night at the Family Arena felt like somebody busted open a ’90s alt-rock time capsule and let it run wild for a few hours. The stage at that place is surprisingly massive, with plenty of room for each band to take over in huge fashion with over-the-top production, but instead, the lights stayed minimal and the volume was the star of the show. Nothing blinding or overdone, just enough to set the mood and let the music stay front and center. Did I mention that it was LOUD? The crowd was huge and packed in early, which I personally love to see—clearly no one wanted to miss a stitch of this show, so they piled in early and got loud from the moment GO! Let’s face it though, they’re getting Sponge, Local H, and Everclear all on one bill, and that honestly felt more like a triple bill and a bit like cheating the system. Three bands, one ticket, pure nostalgia payoff.

I love Sponge, I’ve seen them in a lot of venues here in St. Louis over the years, and they are always an amazing act to catch live. They know how to bring solid performing with a lot of fun and energy. They kicked things off with “Wax Ecstatic” and they wasted zero time proving what a kick ass band they are. Straight out of Detroit’s ’90s alt scene, they played like they were out to remind everyone why their songs still hit. They powered through their set with grit and though I wish it was longer, I cannot complain that “Molly (16 Candles)” was in the setlist and they closed with my favorite, “Plowed.” It was pure perfection. Hearing that chorus roar through the arena super loud with everyone yelling along was a goosebump moment I’m still replaying in my head. That song is perfection—fight me on that. 

Local H kept the adrenaline flowing like only they can, feeling super gritty and punk rockish with just two guys, somehow sounding like a five-piece, filling that giant stage with a wall of Scott Lucas’s crunchy guitars and Ryan Harding’s pounding drums. They’ve been doing their thing since the mid-’90s, and “Bound for the Floor” still lands like a punch to the chest, “All the Kids Are Alright” is such a catchy song and was a huge crowd favorite with the amount of people singing along to it! No filler, no bullshit, just tight, loud, straight-to-the-gut rock that really impressed me with only being a duo. And hey—they did this duo thing before it was cool, stripey, or royal. Oh, and they threw in an amazing cover of “Can’t Hardly Wait” that blew me away! It was phenomenal, and quite a surprise! 

Then Everclear took us to the finale of the night with their kickass set celebrating 30th Anniversary of Sparkle and Fade.  Art Alexakis walked onstage in such a simple, laidback way, ready to go and totally locked in before he even started playing—and no, it did not seem like it was 30 years ago since I first saw them! They leaned into all the hooks you grew up with, making those songs feel as alive now as they did back then. The opening riff of “Santa Monica” lit the crowd up even though it was just a bit of tease (they closed the night with the full song, how could they not?), “Father of Mine” turned into a giant singalong despite its sad lyrics and “Heroin Girl” sounded as good as ever. Art’s voice still has that raspy bite, still very rich and memorable, and he has not lost any edge. The band was super high energy, super fit and bounding around the stage, engaging the crowd a ton, acting like rock stars and having a blast. And they even threw in a bit of “Crazy Train” which was lovely nod to the almighty Prince of Darkness, the late Ozzy Osborne. How could you not love that?

Three bands, zero wasted moments, great setlists. Sponge got everyone warmed up, Local H cranked the punk rock volume, and Everclear closed it out like the pros they are. By the time the last chord of “Santa Monica” faded, there was still a huge crowd, great vibe of people that were there for the music (and maybe some fabulous merch seeing as the line was eons long), and hell yeah, it seemed worth every penny. | Laura Jerele