What do Sugar Ray, Fastball, Blink-182 and Creed all have in common? Having sold millions of albums in the past and having once flooded our airwaves with infectious chart-topping tunes, these bands bring one decade to mind: the ’90s!

These bands were at the height of their careers during the ’90s. With the turn of the century, they soon faded.

Some of these bands, like Sugar Ray, continued to release new albums in the early 2000s in hopes of rekindling or continuing their success.  By the mid-2000s, bands like Blink-182 and Creed had taken a hiatus or broken up.

One band in particular, Metallica, defies this trend. They’re one of the few bands who continued to ride the wave of success and thrive in the music industry through the present.

Why are all these ’90s bands now reuniting and releasing new material? It could just be a coincidence. Or it could be that, with the economy in the slumps, many of these bands came out of hiatus because of a need to replenish their funds. Maybe these bands miss the spotlight and the fans. Whatever the reason is behind the trend of ’90s bands regrouping, they’re back and ready to rock ‘n’ roll.

Review: Sugar Ray & Fastball

On a recent Friday night, cougars were out and ready to pounce on the band members of Sugar Ray and opening act Fastball.

These two ’90s bands put on a concert for a packed house at the Culture Room, a music venue in Fort Lauderdale, on Aug. 16. Touring in support of their new albums, they played for an adult audience made up primarily of women, many of whom were middle aged or older, with the exception of a few college students.

Monica Gray, a flight attendant, showed up at the concert with her co-workers to see Mark McGrath, lead singer of Sugar Ray.
“I am a cougar,” proclaims Gray, a fan of Sugar Ray’s new album, Music for Cougars. It’s the band’s first studio album since 2003.

Other audience members ranged from Emily Sacks, an English instructor at Palm Beach Community College, and her husband, to 21-year-old Carla Wehrmeyer of Tampa, who drove down just to watch her favorite band, Fastball,  and Wehrmeyer’s friend, Nicole Delgiudice, a 22-year-old Boca resident.

Both bands played hit after hit, like someone had pushed play on a greatest hits album, and had the audience members screaming along. Sugar Ray went as far as holding a meet and greet after each show for fans who purchased a CD.

Sugar Ray also sacrificed comfort on this tour. The five band members, all men, got around crammed into one bus. DJ Homicide of Sugar Ray, a resident of Miami, has DJed throughout the world as a solo act. He’s usually flown out to his solo shows. Now that he’s on tour again with Sugar Ray, the tables have turned.
“The tour’s funky. The tour bus’s full of penises, feet and farts,” he says of the experience.

Preview: Blink-182
Tour before album

– Where: Cruzan Amphitheatre
– When: Sept. 26
– How much: $20 to $63

In a traditional musical process, the musicians create the music, record it, and then go out on tour to promote the album. This isn’t the case for the wild, quirky and funny boys of Blink-182. They’re going on tour without the release of their forthcoming album.

Since disbanding in early 2005, the chart-topping, award-winning trio has returned and given the fans what they want. After drummer Travis Barker was involved in a plane crash in 2008, they decided it was time to get back together. Now Blink-182 is selling out concerts across the country. They’ll be joined on stage at the Sept. 26 show by such bands as Fall Out Boy, The All-American Rejects and Asher Roth.

Senior Brian Torres states, “I’m stoked that Blink-182 is back! It was very hard for us fans when the band suddenly disbanded, and I think that they’re giving the fans what they’ve missed so much.”

Blink-182 is the poster child for ’90s punk-pop, and they’ve had a relentless way of creating catchy chart-topping hit tunes. These California boys were able to turn emotional topics such as teenage angst and awkwardness into comedic songs such as “First Date,” which was released in 2001, and “What’s My Age Again?” released in 1999.

Their new album will be their sixth studio record to date. But neither the album name nor its release date have been announced, which leads some to believe that it’s still in the works.

Preview: Metallica
Heavy metal never dies

– Where: BankAtlantic Center
– When: Oct. 1
– How much: $50 to $86

During Metallica’s long career span, they’ve acquired nine Grammys, sold millions upon millions of albums, and have obtained a coveted spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But they’re not done yet.

The award-winning golden boys – or should I say mature men? – of heavy metal are back on the road in support of their latest album, Death Magnetic, released in 2008. Their previous studio album, Some Kind of Monster, was released in 2005. They’re on the second leg of their World Magnetic Tour.

Metallica will please local fans by performing on a stage that’s at the center of the floor of the BankAtlantic Center arena.  On top of that, the tickets for the floor are general admission.

So, put on your rock boots and prepare to headbang to the classics of Metallica along with their new material.

Preview: Creed
Their reunion results in a new album called Full Circle

– Where: Cruzan Amphitheatre
– When: Sept. 16
– How much: $10 to $85

Scott Stapp, former lead singer of Creed, has been spotted moseying around Boca since moving there in 2006, but now he’s about to be spotted on stage with the rest of his old band.

It’s safe to say that we can put all of the rumors of Creed reuniting to rest with the upcoming release of their forthcoming album, Full Circle, and a tour to support it. It’s been almost seven years since they last toured together.

Creed broke up in 2004, but last December, Stapp and former Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti ran into each other. A Creed reunion soon followed, and the result is their current tour and the release of Full Circle in October.

Creed was one of the late ’90s’ most commercially successful rock bands, with over 25 million albums sold according to www.rollingstone.com. Full Circle’s a fitting album title for Creed since all of the members are back together where they began.

To see how the Blink-182, Metallica and Creed shows went, check back at upressonline after the shows.