Toad the Wet Sprocket at The Fillmore (09/09/2023)

The 90’s paid a visit to The Fillmore with Toad the Wet Sprocket and The Verve Pipe playing their hits from the era.

To start off the evening was a steady stream of 90’s songs playing over the main speakers as the crowd filtered in. It was a seated affair. The person at the ticket office had to explain it to me twice for all the concerts I had been to before at the Fillmore were standing and always packed.

I’m not sure why there were chairs, but it brought about some pre-show entertainment as concertgoers played musical chairs in my section as they tried to find their seats.

The Verve Pipe opened the evening with a rousing rendition of “No One’s Gonna Break This Heart (Again)” from their self-titled album. They followed with “Cup of Tea” from their breakout album Villains.

“We had a hay day in the 90’s” said lead singer and songwriter Brian Vander Ark. He added it has been tough selling his newer music at present, but was glad to keep doing so. He also said he has written a lot of songs for movies that people have never seen. One exception was “Colorful” from Rockstar.

When they played “Freshman” the crowd sang along, but when they finished with Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” the crowd rose to their feet. It was quite a cover that allowed the band to lean into their interpretation of the iconic song.

We last saw Toad the Wet Sprocket at Mill City Night in July of 2015 and they were back to play their hits.

A fun moment at the beginning was seeing a spry older gentleman, bespeckled, crawling on his knees, trying to find a bad cord during “California Wasted.” When he resolved the issue and dashed off stage, he received a round of applause. “John Edmond” announced the lead singer, Glen Phillips. Phillips said Edmond was their sound and tour manager and at one time toured with Howard Jones.

By the fifth song the band took a moment to play a song from their latest album Starting Now. The song was “Hold On” and Phillips said every band should have a song called “Hold On” and “Photograph” which they still needed to write.

After the cheerful “Nanci”, Phillips and bassist, Dean Dinning, had a brief chat about their day. Phillips then gave a shout out for Iron Chef Yia Vang and his Union Hmong Kitchen, which Phillips visited earlier.

Then it was back to the hits, which made watching the crowd an enjoyable exercise. It’s not often you get to see guys in their sixties sing along to “Whatever I Fear” with a misty look in their eyes. It was fun to see a mom jump up to dance to “All I want” while her teenage son remained seated with chagrin.

“This is the part of the show to stand,” said Phillips as the crowd rose to their feet with the band finishing with “Nightingale Song” “Something’s Always Wrong” “Walk on the Ocean” and “Fall Down.”

Fun Fact: It’s not often you see performers without shoes, but that was the case with Phillips. I thought it might have been a casual residue from the pandemic. But a picture from Mill City Nights in 2015 had him in bare feet. Maybe it’s a requirement for any Santa Barbara musician.