Sugar Ray, Better Than Ezra, and Tonic

Friday, August 2 · view days & times
Price: $25-$70 | Steel Terrace: $194
Venue: Wind Creek Steel Stage at PNC Plaza

Gates: 5:30 p.m. | Show: 7 p.m.      *Times subject to change

Sugar Ray

Sugar Ray is a rock band from Orange County, California. The band formed in 1992 with the name Shrinky Dinx, later changing it to Sugar Ray after the boxer Sugar Ray Leonard. They were originally a funk metal band, however new releases have found them venturing into other genres, like pop rock. Sugar Ray’s first mainstream hit came in the summer of 1997 with their song “Fly,” which was released on the album Floored and featured notable reggae artist Super Cat. 21 years down the road, Post Malone incorporated “Fly” in “Sugar Wraith” on the triple-platinum Beerbongs & Bentleys. Helmed by GRAMMY Award-winning producer David Kahne, FLOORED earned the band’s first gold plaque and eventually went double-platinum. Two years later, 14:59 bowed in the Top 20 of the Billboard Top 200, went triple-platinum and gave us “Someday,” “Falls Apart” and their second #1 “Every Morning.” In 2001, Sugar Ray crashed the Top 200 at #6 as “When It’s Over” staked out a spot on the charts. It added another platinum plaque to their walls. Enjoying a renaissance, Sugar Ray headlined the Under the Sun Tour 2013-2015. They inked a deal with BMG in 2019 and dropped their seventh full-length, Lil Yachty. In addition to features from Rolling Stone and Billboard, NPR claimed, “The Newport Beach natives returned to their signature uplifting and airy rock sound.” It only set the stage for more touring and music. No matter how much everything changes, we’ve got Sugar Ray forever. Having performed at Musikfest in 2000, we are very excited to be welcoming the band back to the festival on the Wind Creek Steel Stage.

Better Than Ezra

The best songs, records, and bands transport you back to the first moment you heard them each and every time they play. Whether you caught a house party gig after Better Than Ezra formed in 1988 at Louisiana State University, heard “Good” on the radio once it hit #1 in 1995, became a fan following Taylor Swift’s famous cover of “Breathless” in 2010, or saw them headlining sheds in 2018, you most likely never forgot that initial introduction to the New Orleans quartet founded by Kevin Griffin [lead vocals, guitar, piano] and Tom Drummond [bass, backing vocals]. Those hummable melodies, unshakable guitar riffs, and confessional lyrics quietly cemented the group as an enduring force in rock music. How many acts can boast being the inspiration of a classic Saturday Night Live skit? Very few. Named one of the top “100 Greatest Alternative Artists of All Time” by Billboard, Better Than Ezra released their last single “Grateful” in 2018 and are currently in the studio working on new music.

Tonic

The story of Tonic revolves around the longstanding, close brotherhood shared among members Emerson Hart, Jeff Russo and Dan Lavery. Since 1996, the GRAMMY Award-nominated multi-platinum trio has consistently delivered anthemic and undeniable rock fashioned from eloquent songcraft, lyrical honesty and unshakable melodies. Along the way, they translated true experiences and real memories into a storied catalog that resounds as loudly today as it did over two decades ago. To date, the band has landed six Top 10 singles, sold 4 million-plus records and garnered a pair of GRAMMY Award nominations. Their full-length debut, Lemon Parade, not only went platinum, but it also yielded the “#1 Most-Played Rock Song of 1997” in the form of the lead single “If You Could Only See.” The band’s follow-up single, “You Wanted More,” served as the lead-off from the platinum Original Soundtrack Album for American Pie and the second full-length, Sugar. In between a marathon of touring, they released Head on Straight in 2002. The single “Take Me as I Am” received a GRAMMY Award nomination in the category of “Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal” as the album vied for “Best Rock Album”—only to lose to Bruce Springsteen. After a five-year hiatus, the three-piece returned to the charts on the heels of Tonic in 2010, landing in the Top 50 of the Billboard Top Rock Albums Chart and Top 25 of the Billboard Top Independent Albums Chart. Following a successful Pledge Music campaign, they re-recorded the seminal Lemon Parade acoustically for 2016’s Lemon Parade Revisited.

WLEV – Sugar Ray, BTE & Tonic Weekend June2024 Rules