Sugar Ray flies into Reno for MTV Tour
by Lora M. Tucker, Outpost staff
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Lawlor Events Center relished Sugar Ray's "15 minutes of fame," as the group delivered a throbbingly energetic performance with opening band Orgy as part of the MTV Campus Invasion Tour.
Sugar Ray kicked off the tour on April 2 at the RIMAC Arena at the University of California, San Diego, in La Jolla, Calif. The tour spans the nation until May 7, supported by Orgy and recording artist David Garza. The interactive MTV Invasion Tour features music video kiosks, a DJ tent where students are able to test their turntable skills and a Neutrogena minute makeover.
Sugar Ray, Orgy and the MTV crew touched down at the University of Nevada, Reno for the interactive tour on April 7.
In addition to its Campus Invasion headline, Sugar Ray will be opening select West Coast dates for the Rolling Stones on the legendary band's current U.S. tour.
Sugar Ray, the southern California quintet, played numerous tunes from their third and most recent Lava/Atlantic album, "14:59," including "Every Morning," which hit No. 7 on the Billboard "Hot 100.
This follows the success of their double platinum "Floored" album featuring "Fly." The concert, in sync with their musical reputation, was marked by inventive music stylings, energy and humor.
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During the concert, lead singer Mark McGrath pulled two concert-goers out of the crowd to perform freestyle onstage, rewarding the winner with a T-shirt. Throughout the show McGrath's attitude was that of an entertainer rather than merely a singer.
"No one makes more fun of this band than ourselves so we thought that we'd beat everybody to the punch," McGrath said, in reference to the album title "14:59." "Everybody's put us on that one-hit-wonder cruiseship, so we just said, 'Fuck it, it was a great run with 'Fly,' let's name the record '14:59.' If the album fails miserably, it's genius, and if it succeeds, it's still genius' " (quote excerpted from Atlantic Records).
The band lends credit for their musical stardom to "Floored" producer David Kahne. Kahne helped develop harmonies and creative programming while encouraging interplay between the guitar sounds of Rodney Sheppard, Craig "DJ Homicide" Bullock's barrage of ear candy, and the raw rhythmic power of bassist Murphy Karges and drummer Sam Frazier. Kahne also helped give McGrath confidence as a singer, something that is evident in the "14:59" songs.
One of the most striking traits demonstrated in "Someday" and "Falls Apart" (both from "14:59") is the band's use of raw emotion and honesty.
"We're starting to write about what's real in our life," McGrath said. "When we first came to L.A., it was all about beer and chicks and cars, that's where our mentality was. Now we're not afraid to say 'I miss you' or 'I love you' in a song.
"We've done a lot of living in the last four years, and I think that we've grown from those experiences" (quote excerpted from Atlantic Records).
But Sugar Ray does not neglect its rock roots. This is apparent after absorbing the "old skool" punk style of "Aim for Me" or the energetic "Burning Dog."
The opening song of "14:59," dubbed "New Direction," is a frenzy of unadulterated rock, even though its blast lasts only 47 seconds.
The "New Direction" that closes the album is actually a rendition of "Every Morning" recorded in Russian polka style.
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"I look at this band as more like fans making music as opposed to us being 'musicians,'" McGrath said. "We don't want to limit ourselves to one genre, you know, and that's why we're able to write songs like 'Fly' or 'Every Morning,' songs that cross over to so many formats" (quote excerpted from Atlantic Records).
Opening for Sugar Ray was Orgy, a band that has witnessed skyrocketing popularity recently with their debut album "Candyass," featuring a cover of New Order's 1980s hit "Blue Monday."
Lead singer Jay Gordon, said that the band was conceptualized only six months before being signed to Elementree Records, a new record label distributed by Reprise.
As for the Orgy name, Gordon denies a common assumption.
"Believe it or not, it's not a sexually-based name. It's a musical reference, y'know? We play a collage of sounds, you could say," he said. "But it's still hard to tell the lady at the bakery that you're in a band called Orgy and keep a straight face" (quote excerpted from official Orgy site).
"We do have a sound that's really a mixture of a great many sounds," Amir Derakh, the g-synth, said. "The good thing about the name is that it sticks in your head" (quote excerpted from official Orgy site).
Posted April 9, 1999
Copyright 1999 Nevada Outpost
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