Gin Blossoms / Toad the Wet Sprocket
Friday, August 23, 2024 at 06:30pm
Powder Ridge Park
99 Powder Hill Road
GIN BLOSSOMS
Gin Blossoms, an American alternative rock band formed in 1987 in Tempe, Arizona. The band rose to prominence following the 1992 release of their first major label debut album, New Miserable Experience, and the first single released from that album, "Hey Jealousy” became a Top 25 hit and went gold. New Miserable Experience eventually went quadruple platinum and three other charting singles were released from the album including "Allison Road" and "Until I Fall Away". The band's follow-up album, Congratulations I'm Sorry (1996), went platinum including the Grammy nominated "As Long as It Matters" and the top 10 single “Follow You Down”. Gin Blossoms continue to tour every year and in recent years have shared the stage with Collective Soul, Barenaked Ladies and Hootie & The Blowfish.
TOAD THE WET SPROCKET
Toad the Wet Sprocket is still making new music and touring with the same spirit of unwavering independence that started it all over three decades ago.
The band is thankful for the continued help and enthusiastic support of their fans, which helped spur the release of All You Want and also serves as inspiration for the band to not only tour and play live, but to continue to make new original music together. They continue to support their most recent release, Starting Now (2021), as well as their previous album New Constellation (2013), and EP The Architect of Ruin (2015). Toad the Wet Sprocket share in the kind of musical chemistry that can only come from meeting in high school and writing, recording, and touring on albums over the course of time. After Bread & Circus, they followed with Pale in 1990, fear in ’91, Dulcinea in 1994, and Coil in 1997, as well as some compilations along the way. While most will still feel the comforting familiarity of the Billboard-charting hits, “Walk on the Ocean”, “All I Want”, “Something’s Always Wrong”, and “Fall Down”, fans will also be well familiar with tracks with lyrics that resonate for so many life milestones like “The Moment”, “I Will Not Take These Things for Granted”, “Transient Whales” and so many more.
VERTICAL HORIZON
Vertical Horizon stands for a commitment to superior music. It’s a concept that has always meant a steadfast striving for the artistically-creative high road. Consistently at the wheel, founder, writer, lead singer and guitarist, Matt Scannell drives and unites the group, always exploring new territories of inspiration. Perhaps the most significant key to Vertical Horizon’s success today is the freedom they have from the constraints of a major recording label. Scannell says, "Our music is coming from the purest place - there are no other considerations beyond 'Do we like this? Does it mean something us?'" Vertical Horizon works at a tempo that fuels the creative process. It’s no wonder why so many performers cite them as influences.
Founded in the early 1990s as a duo, Vertical Horizon released three albums independently (There and Back Again, Running on Ice, and Live Stages) and toured extensively. In 1999, Vertical Horizon signed with RCA and experienced meteoric success with Everything You Want, selling over two million copies. The title song captured the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Adult Top 40 charts, and went on to become the most played single of 2000. Having carved out a page in the annals of music history, the band also garnered further radio attention with “You’re a God” (#4 on Billboard’s Adult Chart) and “Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning),” which became a 2005 top 20 country hit for country star, Gary Allan.
As a follow-up, in 2003, the band released Go. Tracks such as “Inside” (a frequent concert opener), “I'm Still Here,” and “Forever” provided true commercial appeal, whereas the deeper tracks, like “When You Cry,” “Sunshine,” and “Echo” kept the band established as a formidable, no-nonsense rock entity. Unfortunately, music-industry mismanagement drove the band to seek a hiatus from “the business,” and they took time to reevaluate the creative process and distribution model. After some time away, Vertical Horizon emerged with the same conclusion their fans had: you can’t keep a good band down.
Today’s Vertical Horizon shares the practices of most long-enduring acts: different creative personnel have entered and exited, adding to the ever-expanding sonic tapestry. Experienced bands also run the gamut where it comes to variety, and Vertical Horizon is no exception here. Genres, styles, sounds are the band’s “tools of the trade,” but they’re used with such variety—such intricacy—that it’s a challenge to “classify” the band’s sound. Sure it’s rock, but nuances mean so much.
"As someone who battles a 'glass is half empty' outlook at times, I actually find myself in a very positive place right now,” says Scannell, and well he should be. Vertical Horizon is currently touring in support of The Lost Mile. The high energy shows are filled with an assortment of their well-known and latest hits. The band plays off each other with an almost feverish dynamic energy, drawing the fans into a riveting musical experience at every show.
Vertical Horizon is what it always has been: a vibrant, growing musical entity. It’s not a reissue: it’s bigger, better, and reloaded. The band’s “wheel of change” continues to turn. Hold on to the wheel, and you’ll be dragged. Instead, let it roll—and enjoy the ride.
