Friday Sept. 4, Fort Riley FMWR presented a concert for the area service men and locals. It was held at McCain Auditorium, in Manhattan, Kan. Even though there were a lot of shows held that night, almost all the seats were full.

Everclear, a band that originally formed in Portland, Ore. in 1992, was first to hit the stage for the Army Concert Tour. Everclear had a good line up and played hits such as: “Santa Monica,” “Wonderful,” and ended with “I will buy you a new life.” Art Alexakis, the lead singer and guitar, is the only original member of the band. He held a very professional stage presence and was a favorite of the late-20-early-30 audience. Many fans had commented how they had just came to see Everclear, seeing as they grew up listening to them when they were in high school. Even though the band played in the ’90s there were still a handful of teens that came to see them as well.

After Everclear was done playing Alexakis had a table set up outside the stage area to sign autographs and take pictures with his fans. It took roughly 30 minutes to get through the line, and every fan cherished the few seconds they had with him. There was even an incident where a young girl of around 15 was escorted out of the building, because she got a little crazed as she was waiting to see her idol and got a little out of control toward the other fans and security guards.

Then a group of guys from Texas took the stage. Bowling For Soup came on with a very comical and down right silly attitude. They not only played their line up, but they really did put on a show. They played “Hit Me Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears, and improvised some jingles of their own about each other in the band, as well. The lead singer, Jaret Reddick, even felt the need to burp into the mike at random times throughout the show. They even stopped in the middle to have their very first ever live photo shoot on stage. The band was very far from serious, and just wanted to let everyone have a good time and enjoy the show.

Even though the two bands were from different backgrounds and genres of alternative. It was an amazing show that everyone seemed to enjoy. A classic good time was had by all.