An entertaining show by Sugar Ray in a great venue for live music- Culture Room, Fort Lauderdale. Sugar Ray turned out to be more than a band- really an 'all singing all dancing' act. The 4 piece band was assisted by a DJ playing thumping bass to update and reviltalize the band's pop rock sound. Mark McGrath is a frenetic and audience participating front man with an over the top persona. I found it a little too much as Mark undertook a number of monologues including how he was bumped from Extra.

The band's sound was top notch though, but the 1 1/2 hour act was a bit a musical tease as the DJ played snippets from great songs by Bob Marley and The Beatles by way of leading into Sugar Ray numbers.  

None the less the Sugar Ray standards of Every Morning and When It's Over sounded fresh and the combination of the venue, Mark's exuberance and the playing created an enjoyable and involving show.

Fastball preceded Sugar Ray and provided a solid 40 minutes of honest straightforward playing including their hits Out of My Head and The Way. Their lead guitarist is outstanding.  It was great to hear those songs played live by the originators in such an intimate and atmospheric venue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2xfM88ib0M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M4uG2W2_jA&feature=related 

At $25 a ticket a great value show.