Sugar Ray came in second. I literally swooned when I saw Mark McGrath on stage and Bijan even caught me while I made the swoons, haha. I couldn’t help it; McGrath was my crush when I was in elementary and high school. Anyway, they really pulled of a great show last night. The people were already pumped from Smash Mouth’s performance so everyone was already standing when Sugar Ray played.
Only Mark McGrath and guitarist Rodney Sheppard are the only original members who are still in the band. Drummer Jesse Bovina and bassist Justin Bovina, who are apparently identical twins, are their new members.
They played almost every song that I wanted to hear from them: “Someday,” “Answer the Phone,” “When It’s Over,” “Every Morning,” “Falls Apart,” and “Fly.” After playing “Mean Machine” from their 1995 album Lemonade and Brownies, Sugar Ray also did a cover of “Blitzkrieg Bop” by The Ramones.
Twins Jesse Bivona on drums and Justin Bivona on bass, Sugar Ray | SugarSmashGin
Mark McGrath, Sugar Ray frontman | SugarSmashGin
Double Trouble: Jesse and Justin Bovina, Sugar Ray | SugarSmashGin
Mark McGrath and his four-leaf clover guitar, Sugar Ray | SugarSmashGin
Rodney Sheppard, Sugar Ray guitarist | SugarSmashGin
Mark McGrath, Sugar Ray | SugarSmashGin
Justin and his black and white ensemble, Sugar Ray | SugarSmashGin
Mark and his wayfarers, Sugar Ray | SugarSmashGin
Sugar Ray from afar | SugarSmashGin
The other side of Sugar Ray | SugarSmashGin
Mark his tattoo-studded arms, Sugar Ray | SugarSmashGin
It was also hella funny when Mark McGrath called two gentleman from the audience so they could do this “Sugar Ray Karaoke” thing. He asked them to sing/dance to a couple of pop songs (one was Gangnam Style, the other one I have no idea what the title was) and whoever gets the loudest cheer gets Mark’s “cool dude” approval. Both of them got free shirts anyway. What can I say? The man really knew how to get the show hyped up until their very last song of the night.
SugarSmashGin: Back to the ’90s in One Night
