It’s almost difficult to believe that we are now twenty years out from 1997 and all the great music that was released that year. Grunge was on the verge of taking its last breath and nu metal hadn’t yet left its mark, for better or worse, on the decade. Experimentation reigned and many bands’ releases that year forever changed the musical landscape. Radiohead’s OK Computer and Bjork’s Homogenic had fans reevaluating how we define rock music, while the Foo Fighters’ The Colour and the Shape and Oasis’ cocaine fueled Be Here Now were just straight rock and roll. However, the airwaves that year were ruled by the debut album from Third Eye Blind. It was pretty much impossible to tune into any commercial rock station without hearing “Semi-Charmed Life”, “Graduate”, “How’s It Going To Be” or “Jumper”. In celebration of their eponymous album’s release two decades ago, Stephan Jenkins and company are currently wrapping up their anniversary tour, which included a sold-out show at Stubb’s in Austin on November 1st.
Starting the show off with “Losing a Whole Year” was an appropriate choice as it’s the first song on their debut album and set the tone for a night that would include multiple sing-alongs. Jenkins’ voice was a little rough sounding and he admitted to waking up pretty sick that morning and taking a “ton of drugs” to help him get through the show. Luckily for Jenkins, the crowd was more than willing to sing the songs for him, and when “Semi-Charmed Life” was played, the crowd was singing so loud that Jenkins didn’t even sing the whole first verse. In addition to playing the singles like “Jumper” and “Graduate”, the band also pulled out some fan favorites like “Motorcycle Drive By” and “Narcolepsy”. Later in the set found Jenkins alone on the stage for some acoustic renditions of “How’s It Going to Be”, “Slow Motion” and a cover of Beyoncé’s “Mine”. After a very short break the band returned to the stage to close out the show with “Never Let You Go” from their sophomore album, Blue, and a fantastic rendition of “God of Wine”, the closing track from their first album.
Despite Jenkins vocals being a bit on the raspier side due to being sick, the show exceeded expectations. Even though Third Eye Blind have continued to release new music since their heyday, they wisely only included a few of those songs on their set list and instead played a nostalgic set for the crowd. Though phones were up in the air most of the time, it was a rare night where the audience preferred to sing along to songs rather than chat with their friends, as is commonplace at Austin concerts. Third Eye Blind were by no means a game changer in the nineties, but they were adept at writing some great tunes, and in Austin they proved that they still have what it takes to entertain after more than two decades.
