November 18th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Third Eye Blind. All photos by KEVIN KINDER, Northwest Arkansas Newspapers
As I was leaving Tuesday (Nov. 17) night’s Third Eye Blind concert, a young man sitting next to me noticed me putting away my notebook.
“Are you writing some kind of report?” he asked.
When I explained that I was writing notes for this very blog post, he said the following as he too made an exit from the arena:
“Don’t be a critic. You know you love them. They are the most underrated band ever,” he offered.
I will say this: I was wrong about the San Francisco-based pop rockers. When their name was announced as the band for the University of Arkansas fall installment of the Headliner Concerts Committee series, I came as a surprise to me, considering some of the groups who had come before them in that series, namely, the Foo Fighters, T.I., John Mayer and others.
I didn’t expect Third Eye Blind to have the stadium appeal to fill the venue. I didn’t expect a band who burst onto the scene in 1997 to have any kind of raucous response from the college-aged crowd who would have been in middle school when they peaked.
I guess I did underestimate them after all.
Click the ‘more’ link to continue reading about Third Eye Blind’s recent concert in Fayetteville.
Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind
The band did – or very nearly did – fill Barnhill Arena. And, as is to be expected of a Headliner Committee concert where a number of students were allowed in for free, it was dominated by those in their late teens and early ’20s. Though songs from the band’s platinum-selling debut such as “Jumper,” “Semi Charmed Life” and “Graduate” did draw the largest responses of the evening, there were enough people singing along to the songs released on the band’s most recent album, August’s “Ursa Major,” to prove that the band remains solvent nearly 15 years after it started.
The band played several cuts from that album in addition to the fan favorites that were sprinkled throughout the evening. It was as much of a visual experience as it was a music event. The band came out to a mostly black stage, illuminated in the beginning only by flashing strobes and a woman who stood on the drum kit tossing out glow sticks. Lights flashed throughout the concert, and drummer Brad Hargreaves’ kit was decorated by its own set of flashing lights. Throughout the process, frontman Stephan Jenkins did his best to keep things moving too, jumping around the stage in a tophat – but sans shoes – for much of the evening.
Abraham Millett of Third Eye Blind
The crowd bought every minute of it, including Jenkins’ cheesy monologue toward the end of the night that promised all the fans they were members of the band, too. It was a particularly responsive crowd considering the technical problems that seemed to mar the sound throughout the night as things fell toward the muddy bottom of the sonic spectrum and Jenkins’ vocals often got lost in the shuffle. But it was crowd that came to sing and bask in the middle-of-road rock sounds of Third Eye Blind, who sound a lot like they did in 1997.
But let’s not kid ourselves. Album sales might not agree, but if anything, Third Eye Blind is bigger than they ever were.
About the opener: Space Capone may be based in Nashville, Tenn, but there sound is more Motown Detroit or Memphis soul than the country their city is known for. If given only one word to describe them, it would be this one: funk. The nine, yes, nine-piece ensemble contained bongos, saxophone, trumpet, several guitars and the voice of Space Capone, who jumped between a high-register falsetto and a baritone wail, sometimes in the same song. We understand that the band was a last-minute addition to the bill when there was an issue with the previously scheduled opener, and if so, Space Capone filled in admirably.
Third Eye Blind Setlist, as pulled from the stage:
First, a note. Jenkins, who noted that it was the band’s last night on the current tour, told the crowd the band was going off script. They added “God of Wine” late in the set, which was not originally scheduled to be played.
1) Intro; 2) Can You Take Me; 3) Losing a Whole Year; 4) Faster; 5) Wounded; 6) Sharp Knife; 7) Never Let You Go; 8) Bonfire; 9) Motorcycle Drive By; 10) Water Landing; 11) Jumper; 12) Dao of St. Paul; 13) Guitar solo; 140 Graduate, with drum solo; 15) Monotov’s Private Opera
Encore: 16) Slow Motion; 17) Don’t Believe a Word; 18) Semi Charmed Life 19) God of Wine; 20 Bonfire (reprise)
Author: Kevin Kinder
Tags: Barnhill Arena, Space Capone, Third Eye Blind
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