Copyright 2002 Caller

"Better Than Ezra's ornery rock: ‘Grandfathers of alternative' take over Concrete Street tonight"
by Leanne Libby

The band might be 14 years old, but there's no ornery teenager air about Better Than Ezra.

"We're sometimes called the grandfathers of alternative rock," said bassist Tom Drummond, who is just shy of 33.

The New Orleans-based trio, known for hits like "Extra Ordinary" off their most recent album, "Closer," plays Concrete Street Ampitheater tonight. Local bands Terranova and Reely Rotnz will open the show, whose "Party on the Patio" venue holds up to 1,500 people.

"This is a group that has had mainstream rock hits seven, eight years ago, so they attract 25, 35-to 40-year olds," said Mark Schaberg, the ampitheater's director of marketing and booking.

Better Than Ezra is the latest in a string of well-known acts to take the stage in Corpus Christi, a trend Schaberg expects will continue.

"Major tours are starting to look at Corpus Christi as a viable stop on their tour dates," he said.

Putting fans first

Better Than Ezra has found that being nice pays nicely. Their fans have stuck with them over the years because the band seems to care about them, even including a link on their Web site that lets concert-goers request songs to be played at upcoming shows.

Survival in an industry teeming with competition, they have found, means getting involved in more than just the music.

"I can gauge now how the show is going to do by the number of requests," Drummond said. "It's kinda cool; I can tell whether the promoter is doing a good job."

While the band's sound has been said to have drifted from alternative to grunge to the vanilla-sounding "Adult Top 40," Drummond said Better Than Ezra's music has changed little over the years. "We try to emphasize songs that have strong melodies and meaningful lyrics and then back it up with a strong live performance," he said. "When people try to classify things, that's just something they do for themselves, I guess. Radio formats are always changing, so they have to fit that."

Drummond prefers to focus on the fans, rewarding their loyalty with a good show.