Under the Sun Tour 2015: The Stone Pony Summer Stage

Pop-Break Live: Under the Sun Tour 2015 at The Stone Pony Summer Stage

Nostalgia reigned supreme on Friday night when the Mark McGrath and his Under The Sun tour stopped by the legendary Stone Pony for an unforgettable night of music. This year, McGrath brought his band Sugar Ray along with Under the Sun tour veteran Uncle Kracker, and two new additions to the tour, Eve 6 and Better Than Ezra.

Eve 6 kicked off the beautiful Friday night show with a selection of their more notable tracks including chart-topping songs like “Here’s to the Night” and one of the quintessential ’90s tracks, “Inside Out.” For a band that formed in 1995, they looked and sounded incredible. It’s as if they haven’t missed a beat since their heyday.

Uncle Kracker was up next and play through his back catalog of hit songs such as: “When the Sun Goes Down,” “Follow Me,” and his cover of “Drift Away.” Surprisingly, he played a handful of covers including “The Joker” be Steve Miller Band, “What I Got” by Sublime, and Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long.” For an artist with so many hit songs it was weird at first to hear him play songs by other artists, but it kept the crowd energized and singing along.

As with every Under the Sun tour, Sugar Ray was the penultimate act and as always they never disappoint. Mark McGrath is an incredible entertainer and really knows how to interact with a crowd. The band played through hits like “Fly,” “Someday,” “When It’s Over,” and “Every Morning.”

I was beyond excited to see Better than Ezra for the first. When I spoke with lead singer Kevin Griffin, we spoke about being a ’90s band and how the Under the Sun tour is more of a nostalgia tour than anything else. When the New Orleans band got on stage and started their closing set with a rendition of their hit song “Good” I was instantly transported back to 1995. 20-years-later and that song still holds up and for all intents and purposes is still good. They played other notable hits “Desperately Waiting” and “In the Blood.” They also played an incredible cover of “Laid” by James, which actually me question myself on who the original singer of that song was.

I could see this tour ever year and still not get sick of hearing the same songs over and over again. They bring such a high energy performance and fun atmosphere to an great venues. The Stone Pony SummerStage is the ideal venue for a tour like this. There’s nothing like watching the sunset while hearing the songs you grew up listening to.

Eve 6

Uncle Kracker

Sugar Ray

Better Than Ezra