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Mark McGrath, lead singer of Sugar Ray, told the crowd at the Murat Egyptian Room in Indianapolis Monday that the band came to rock.
"We're going to turn this Monday into Friday," he said after the band finished their first song, "Answer the Phone."
And that they did.
From their hit songs such as "Someday" and "When It's Over," to their lesser-known songs, Sugar Ray made sure everyone in the crowd had a good rock 'n' roll time.
The band didn't just play their songs and leave, though. McGrath - and sometimes his bandmates - talked to the crowd, got the crowd involved and told a few stories.
For instance, before the band played "Under the Sun," off their newest album simply titled "Sugar Ray," McGrath told the audience he wrote the song about his memories of the 1980s. He said if there was a musician in the crowd that night, perhaps they would write a song about their memories of Monday night.
Obvious to everyone throughout the entire night was the fact that women love Mark McGrath and guys love to watch him play. Sugar Ray gave both the guys and the gals what they wanted.
The rockers in the house enjoyed the thrashing song "RPM" off Sugar Ray's second album, "Floored." And Sugar Ray, for their loyal fans, also played a few songs off their first album, "Lemonade & Brownies." Songs off their No. 3 CD "14:59" were also heard in the approximate two-hour set.
Two lucky people - a girl and a guy - were pulled up on stage for a little "game show" with Mark McGrath wearing a pompadour wig and an outfit that only a game show host would wear. They didn't know what was going to be expected of them, but they didn't care. They got to be onstage with Sugar Ray and it showed that they enjoyed every minute of it. The girl got a kiss from McGrath and, for a few minutes, the guy had a new best friend in McGrath.
The girl had her turn first and that's when she found out she would have to sing. She spun the giant wheel and it landed on Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me." She didn't seem to really know the words but she at least lipped it while the crowd sang the words. The guy sang Crazy Town's "Butterfly" on his turn, with, again, the crowd also singing.
The guy won, judged from crowd applause.
For one song, guitar players Rodney Sheppard and Murphy Karges went acoustic as they sat with McGrath at the mini-"Ray's Bar," setup in a corner on the stage.
Throughout the entire show, DJ Homicide kept the turntables spinning and drummer Stanton Frazier made sure the headbangers in the crowd had something to bang their heads to.
As a whole, whether rollin' and rockin', going acoustic, playing some reggae or whatever, the band had a good time, the crowd had a good time, and darn it, so did I.
There were two opening acts for Sugar Ray.
Start released its first album last Tuesday and is a rock/punk/alternative band that I think could possibly become big. I enjoyed their music and had planned to buy the CD Monday but they didn't have it for sale outside anywhere. So I'll have to go out and find it.
This is their first tour and both Sugar Ray and Uncle Kracker, the second opening act, gave some big acknowledgements to the California band, led by a female singer.
Like I said, Uncle Kracker was the second opening act. He opened up his set with "Whiskey & Water" off his debut album "Double Wide."
From there, his set included "Better Days" and other songs off the album. Kracker also took some time between songs to talk to the audience. "I'm a songwriter from the heart," he said at one point, who has written and co-written songs for years.
Going into a Kid Rock-mode, Uncle Kracker's band played a little of Guns 'N' Roses' "Paradise City" before they and Uncle Kracker went into his "Heaven," also pulling Paradime onto stage. On the album, Uncle Kracker performs the song with Paradime and Kid Rock, but there was no Kid Rock there Monday.
The following song, which I didn't catch the name of, unfortunately, was dedicated to Joe C., who died in the past year.
Before ending his set with the next single off his album (which will be "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah"), Kracker thanked Sugar Ray for having him on tour with them and praised the sound of Start.
Overall, I had the best, most fun time while Sugar Ray was performing. But I think Start could become huge and, well, as for Uncle Kracker, the jury is still out, I guess.
