Concert Review: Third Eye Blind

Yesterday I mentioned that TEAM was a good opener for Third Eye Blind due to the broad range of musical influences, and I want to touch on that briefly.

There was a point during Third Eye Blind's performance where I realized something sounded a little reggae. There are songs on Blue that remind me a little of Led Zeppelin. Actually, initially I remembered "Graduate" as a Jane's Addiction song. (Yes, that is embarrassing.)

I mention this because I appreciate variety in music, and the inclusion of different sounds. I appreciate that not every song sounds the same, but also because it shows an appreciation of a lot of different music on the part of the band, and a love for music, and that is meaningful for me. So I mention this to say that I consider Third Eye Blind to be a band that really knows music and has a lot to offer.

I say I only wanted to touch on that briefly because there was another type of inclusion going on that had an even bigger effect on the concert, and I want to focus more on that. Where it really became clear to me was during an extended solo by drummer Brad Hargreaves.

He started playing and the band left, and it was just him. I thought perhaps this was something they were doing to maintain continuity before the encore. I think Def Leppard used to do it that way. Then, after the band came back and played some more, they had a big finish and left again, but they left without playing "Semi-Charmed Life" and the house lights stayed off. (The ultimate guide to whether the band is gone or not is always the house lights.) So, that was not the pre-encore break; it was just a drum solo.

Anyway, that got me thinking about how there had also been an extended bass solo by Alex LeCavalier - bass solos never happen - and I realized that every individual up there had been given a chance to shine and have the focus on them. We're used to singers taking their moments, and guitar solos, and not even surprised by an extended keyboard sequence, but this was more. This was unity with a care for individuals.

In some ways it was not surprising. This is the band that asks people to introduce themselves to the people nearby (which is pretty unusual). I was glad to do it. As I was standing in line waiting for the doors to open, and the people behind me were talking about how it seemed like less hipsters than usual, and I have been wondering at some shows how many attendees were fans, or if it was just something to do. I wasn't sure here, but once Third Eye Blind came on, I knew, because I saw the joy on the faces of the people around me at that moment, and heard them singing along, and that was moving, so it was great to talk to them, and shake hands. I had already been moved by them. We shared the band, and the band has us personalize it.

In other ways, the unity of the band was kind of surprising. Third Eye Blind has had a lot of turnover. Singer Stephan Jenkins has been the only constant throughout the 20 year run, though Hargreaves comes close with 18 years under his belt. Guitarist Kryz Reid, keyboardist Alex Kopp, and LeCavalier have all joined within the last three years, so after the last new album (Ursa Major in 2009), but there was no sense of that listening. They played the music right and they felt like a band.

This is my 100th band reviewed since I started doing this, and I will probably write a bit about the writing itself in a week or so, but I like that the milestone coincided with a concert, and that it was a good one. The other interesting thing about that is that it is also a band I have seen before, so I had some basis for comparison.

It has been a very long time. I saw them at the Schnitz when Tonic opened for them. The internet indicates this was in 2000, and that sounds right. That is a bigger venue, and I remember it as a really good show, but my main memory of it is Jenkins going up into the balcony on "Never Let You Go". And it was great showmanship; we all had a good time.

(It did end up in one of the overview posts, written later: http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2011/06/concert-journal-part-v-best.html)

This show was different though. It was emotionally moving. It was fun and it rocked, but there were other things going on. During their set, TEAM kept using "beautiful" in reference to Third Eye Blind, and yes, that made total sense later. If I met the band, hugging them and telling them they were beautiful would feel like the most honest thing to do, while quite possibly not being the most appropriate.

There was a schedule up at the venue indicating that the show would end at 10:45. That did not end up being true, possibly by as much as a half hour. And they said they didn't have a really defined show, so different things can happen, but it felt like they didn't want to leave, and we didn't want them to leave, so that was about right.

It's not that the Third Eye Blind that I saw in 2000 wasn't great, or that the band with the strong self-titled release in 1997 in wasn't great, but they feel like something new now, and something really good. I am excited about the new songs that they played, and for that next album.

Let them be loud.

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