“It’s amazing to travel around the world and come home and have a reception like this,” Brian Vander Ark said. “There is nothing better than still being accepted here.”

Local bands Elliot Street Lunatic and Alco opened the show for The Verve Pipe, which recently released its latest CD, “A Family Album.” The new album features 10 children’s songs that the band wrote after being asked to contribute to a children’s compilation album called “Calling All Kids.”

A crowd of about 450 people heard the band perform its new songs along with old favorites such as “Spoonful of Sugar,” “Photograph” and the band’s most successful song to date, “The Freshman.”

“It’s good to be home,” lead singer Vander Ark said to an excited crowd at The Small Planet. “Back in 1994, we had a practice area just one mile down the road at State Mini Storage.”

Known for its energetic performances, the band’s show had everything from lively
harmonica solos to a guitar-filled with cereal (in keeping with one of the children’s songs).

Those in attendance said they enjoyed the show, even if it was not a new experience for them.

“I’ve seen it before, but I will always come back,” MSU master’s student Christine Pasternak said. “Their show is fantastic.”

Although The Verve Pipe has the ability to fill arenas for concerts, Vander Ark said that he prefers doing shows in smaller venues such as The Small Planet.

“The building was electric,” Vander Ark said. “It’s always better to do shows in front of 300 or 400 people instead of 10,000 because all those people suck the life out of you. Tonight, I could feed off the energy and it kept me going.”

The band was formed in 1991 and grew its first big following in college towns across Michigan, including its hometown, East Lansing. The group became nationally recognized in 1996 when “The Freshman” reached No. 1 on the U.S. alternative chart.

Vander Ark isn’t the only one that enjoys when the band returns home.

Lansing resident Corey Karinen said watching a band such as The Verve Pipe perform in its old haunts adds a new element to the show.

“I think it’s excellent,” Karinen said. “It makes it more special for them to come back to where they got popular.”

Despite all of the band’s success, it is no surprise to Pasternak that the group is willing to come back and play in front of a smaller number of people.

“Home is home,” she said. “And that never changes.”

Although Vander Ark no longer lives in the area, he said his fans in and around East Lansing still are the most welcoming to him and his band.

“I’ve lived in Grand Rapids for 10 years,” Vander Ark said. “But I don’t get anything like this anywhere.”