Better Than Ezra Wrap Up “March Radness Tour” at OLG Stage in Niagara Falls, ON [Photos]

On March 6th, Better Than Ezra announced their “March Radness Tour,” in reference to the March Madness NCAA Basketball Tournament happening during that same week. The tour saw the band play eight shows, seven of which were in America, and seven of them also featured Nine Days.

However, the eighth show saw the band not only cross the border into Canada, but also bring Tonic into the opening slot instead of Nine Days, a band celebrating 30 years of their debut album and a prominent figure in the ’90s alternative scene.

Tonic opened the night up strong, covering “Fat Bottomed Girls” by Queen, third in the setlist. A bold move, but a successful one in getting the crowd standing up and dancing at OLG Stage.

The group may be best known for “If You Could Only See,” but that whole Lemon Parade album was enough for Paul Weitz to directly invite the band to a screening of a pretty big movie, and then ask the band to make a song for that movie. Although the band was hesitant to accept, they eventually did, leading to the creation of another hit song, “You Wanted More,” a song featured in American Pie.

Tonic frontman Emerson Hart is a big advocate for giving instruments to kids, and credited his love for music to experiencing music at a young age. One band he gave a lot of credit to was Fleetwood Mac, a group that he heard from his sister’s room a lot as a kid. After that story, the band kicked into “Go Your Own Way,” an iconic song off of Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams album.

To celebrate 30 years of their debut album, the band stripped down to an acoustic guitar and a bass to cover the title track of that album, “Lemon Parade.”

The set was long enough to be considered a co-headlining show, with the last two songs being “If You Could Only See,” including a chorus sing-along at the end that filled the theatre, and the final song of the set, “Casual Affair.”

Tonic’s set at OLG Stage was a celebration of 30 years and a celebration of Lemon Parade, their debut album that started it all.

Better Than Ezra, on the other hand, had a little bit of trouble with their set. When crossing over the border into Canada, the electric guitars were confiscated by border control, resulting in the band going full acoustic guitars for the night.

Regardless of the unfortunate situation, the band made the most with what they could. It didn’t take long for the band to get the crowd singing, with “A Lifetime” being the start of a night full of crowd interaction.

The set was also home to many, many covers. This is something the band has been doing during the “March Radness Tour,” changing up the covers based on the city. The first cover of the night, a common repeater, “Feel Good Inc.” by Gorillaz.

Canada isn’t a spot that Better Than Ezra visits often, as admitted by the band themself. But not to worry, the band announced they will be planning for a 2027 Canadian summer tour that will take the band coast to coast across the country.

What shocked most fans during this show was how early they played their biggest hit, “Good.” At song number seven, many fans were questioning how much longer the set would last, since most bands wait until the very end to play massive hits, Tonic included earlier in the night.

But the relief was almost instant as the band kicked into another cover, this time changing up the genre and covering “Live a Little” by Chaz Cardigan.

The other covers of the night were very appreciated by the crowd. Song ten was “I Don’t Smoke” by Kenny Gray, an odd song to hear on acoustic instruments, but done in the style of Better Than Ezra. Song eleven was a classic, “Laid” by James. Anyone who is a fan of the 1990s, and especially those who grew up in that decade, knows this song by heart. The bed on fire, the neighbours complaining, everyone in the crowd knew the words.

The final cover came at song 15, where the band played a cover that was finetuned for the area they were playing. Since they were in Canada, it was only right that they covered Rush. That they did, covering “2112 Part 1: Overture.”

After covering Rush, the band finished the set with “Rosealia,” another classic off their 1995 album Deluxe, and finished the set with “Sunflowers.”

Fans of the ’90s and alternative rock music were blessed with a great night of rock music, with two long sets from Better Than Ezra and Tonic to wrap up the “March Radness Tour,” Fans of Better Than Ezra should keep their eyes out for upcoming announcements, even though the planned Canadian tour is over a year away from now, the band didn’t shoot down any oppourtunities of one off shows in the country like the one at OLG Stage.