Nationally acclaimed alternative rock group Better than Ezra is scheduled to take the stage of Rick’s Caf‹¨ tomorrow night.
Better than Ezra will add to the list of big names to hit the venue’s stage this semester.
“I love bringing great music to Starkville, and Better than Ezra is as good as it gets,” Caf‹¨ owner Rick Welch said.
The first time that Better than Ezra played at Rick’s was in the mid ’90s, but the group has since given many performances there and at the MSU amphitheater several times.
Welch explained that the band will sometimes stop by even if they are not scheduled to perform.
“They have stopped in numerous times when they were just driving though, just to hang out and catch up,” he said.
Better Than Ezra bassist Tom Drummond said that getting to know their fans on a personal level helps build their continuously growing fanbase.
“I think part of that is having a good live show, but over the years we have gone out of the way to meet our fans and do meet-and-greets at shows,” he said. “In the long run, people know that they might get to meet us and they definitely will if they come to our show.”
Welch agrees that the members of Better than Ezra are certainly worth meeting.
“They are as nice and funny and humble now as they were the first time I met them,” he said. “I am so proud of them for their success and even prouder to call them friends.”
The lyrics of Better than Ezra’s chart-topping songs such as “Lifetime” can relate to the situations and friendships during a college experience.
“Our songs are not gimmicky, and I think that is one of the things about our songs that make them stand out,” Drummond said. “A lot of them come from real-life experiences, and a lot of the songs are easy to relate to because they are the kind of things that happen to real people.”
Drummond said Better than Ezra has always been about strong songs and strong melodies.
These are not the only strong aspects of Better than Ezra, however. Drummond also stressed the importance behind strong relationships among band members.
“When you are in this business, you have to spend a lot of time together,” he said. “We have a lot of the same tastes in music and outside of music. We get along really well. We are friends as well as business partners, which is kind of an unusual situation.”
Welch believes that one of the things that keeps Better than Ezra going strong after so many years is the band’s constant growth and experimentation.
“Their new album Before the Robots is incredible,” he said. “I’ve been constantly listening to it since I got it. The new album has the classic Better than Ezra sound, but it also shows that the band is growing and experimenting.”
Better than Ezra promises to bring an exciting show that will ensure the fans a good time.
“It is a pretty high-energy show and we definitely don’t try to make it sound exactly like the record,” Drummond said. “We like to bring a live element. We like to have a good time, and if the crowd is having a great time it is a two-way street.”
Tickets for the show can be purchased for $13 in advance on the Rick’s Caf‹¨ Web site, www.rickscafe.net. The doors will open at 8 p.m.