So much about what we romanticize about summertime revolves around the nostalgia that goes along with it.  The incredible vacations, the long weekend beach houses, that momentary fling that got away.  For us, it’s reminiscing about our youth, jumping in our cars and cranking up the songs of the hour that played as a soundtrack to our upbringing, with the heat beating down on us through an open sun roof.  With the inaugural Summerland Tour, five bands are turning back the clock more than a decade to the days where part time jobs and who liked who took precedence over 401k contributions and dental benefits, performing some of the most anthemic tunes of our adolescence.

A little more than a week ago, the historic Roseland Ballroom played host to the tour’s local run.  Co-headlined by iconic 90′s bands Everclear and Sugar Ray, the bill was rounded out by Gin Blossoms, Lit, and Marcy Playground.  Even with a cavalcade of new songs to promote, each band made sure to satiate the hungry crowd by ripping out each of their many hits in a four hour show, pasting smiles across the standing room only floor.

With talks of a 90′s tour being discussed and perpetually placed on the back-burner year after year, Everclear’s Art Alexakis and Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath tasked themselves with bringing the idea to fruition in 2012 successfully recruiting each of their desired band to shape the bill.  Judging by the success of the initial run, there is supreme confidence that the tour will be back in 2013 with a lineup that is somehow, even better.

LocalBozo.com was fortunate enough to sit down with Everclear frontman Art Alexakis backstage at Roseland before the show.  Listen in as we candidly discuss how the Summerland Tour took shape, the band’s storied history of performing in New York City, Everclear’s latest album “Invisible Stars,” the singer’s strange ability to morph positive melodies out of negative circumstances, and so much more.  And for a full recap of everything you may have missed at Summerland 2012, you can get all of LocalBozo.com’s thorough coverage right here.

- Jane Van Arsdale