Third Eye Blind in Full

July 24, 2017November 21, 2017 Lindsay Marshall 0 Comment Berkeley, Greek Theater, Ocean Park Standoff, Silversun Pickups, Third Eye Blind

Third Eye Blind closed out their tour celebrating their self-titled debut album in their hometown, the San Francisco Bay Area. Technically they’re from San Francisco, but they were playing the Greek Theater in Berkeley. Close enough.

I’d never been to the Greek Theater before, and turns out it is on UC Berkeley’s campus. Safe to say I got lost trying to find it. I had parked downtown and walked to the venue, but a lot of time was spent wandering through campus, glad I’m no longer in school. Ya know.

My first mistake, however, was leaving my jacket in the car before making the trek. I didn’t realize this venue was outside. It was cold. Especially after the sun went down. Welp, guess I’m gonna freeze here.

I knew I couldn’t even mosh to keep myself warm for once, because imagine trying to mosh to Third Eye Blind. But I mean, come on, who doesn’t love Third Eye Blind. Their first album is pretty fantastic. I can go one night without moshing. Sometimes you just have to appreciate the music, no matter how tame it may be.

The entire venue was GA, so I could have gone anywhere. Obviously I’m headed to the pit, moshing or not. I could see why it was called the Greek Theater. It was set up like a Greek arena, with concrete levels rather than chairs.

Ocean Park Standoff opened the show. They were pretty good, very upbeat, which is always fun and not surprising considering who they’re opening for. At one point the frontman told us we were having a singalong and taught us how to sing the “ohhhh”s in the song. Easy enough. I also appreciated the fact that there was a girl in the band.

After Ocean Park Standoff was Silversun Pickups. I was never a huge fan of theirs. I’m not really into the singer’s voice to be completely honest. But they were good. I didn’t hate their music, but I did only recognize like two of the songs they played. There’s also a girl in Silversun Pickups too, which obviously is always a plus for me.

Then it was time for Third Eye Blind.

I loved the way they had the stage set up. They were hidden behind a curtain for most of the first song, and the crowd could only see their silhouettes, and then all of a sudden they burst out and it was AWESOME.

They also had two levels set up on the stage. It took a little bit for two of the guys to come down to the lower level closer to the crowd, and then eventually frontman Stephan Jenkins followed suit. Then they all kinda went back and forth between the two levels the rest of the show, and it was pretty cool. I’ve never seen a set up like that before. I liked it.

I loved Stephan’s dance moves. So good.

I was a little confused at the start of their set, though. I came into this show thinking they were just playing their self-titled debut front to back. They opened with a few songs I didn’t recognize. Turns out they were technically touring for their new album We Are Drugs, but also playing their first album in full. Por que no los dos?!

So they opened with some new ones and then transitioned into the album we were all there to see.

They talked about it being a hometown show and how happy they were to be playing the Greek.

Stephan changed shirts a few times throughout the set. I loved the blue light-up thing he came out in, then he changed into a white long-sleeved shirt, then a black t-shirt.

“I can’t stop smiling, I don’t even know what to do with myself.”

He made an announcement about how this would be the last time they’d ever play this album in full. I’m pumped. Let’s do this.

“This music is alive. We’re not here for nostalgia, this is now.”

I love “Losing a Whole Year.” One of my faves.

“Thank you for loving us, and thank you for keeping our music alive.”

The crowd was SO LOUD during the end bit of “Semi-Charmed Life” that he stopped singing altogether and it was AMAZING.

There was definitely a double-necked guitar at one point. I wanna say it was during “Semi-Charmed Life” but I can’t really remember. We’ll go with it. I’ve never seen anyone but Coheed‘s Claudio Sanchez use one of those onstage. Cool.

Also the entire crowd was singing the GUITAR PART in “Jumper.” He looked at us a little dumbfounded, but encouraged it.

“How’s It Going to Be” was another beautiful one. Ugh love it.

It was honestly pretty weird to me how calm that pit was. I never see that. There was just jumping and dancing and lots of personal space. Very calm.

They’re super poppy, but they play all their own instruments (“no backing tracks” as Stephan made clear) and this is a PERFECT album, I don’t care. It’s so weird to me that it’s 20 years old and still holds up so well.

“You’ll never be able to get the moment on Instagram. You’ll only miss the moment trying.”

They encored with “Never Let You Go.” Stephan came out in a backwards pink baseball cap which made me laugh. From where I was standing he didn’t look old enough to have a 20 year old album.

He called all the other bands and crew onstage to dance and go crazy to “Never Let You Go.” That was really cool. Definitely looked like a party onstage.