photo courtesy of godkind20

despite having been a fan of third eye blind since my unwieldy adolescence, i just never got the timing right to catch one of their shows. 1997’s self-titled is a seminal record for me, and by all means, should be one of everyone’s favorite pop albums. the trio played a show in june here at the house of blues and my attempts to measle my way into a press spot went unanswered. this time, we (and by we, i mean me) were hooked up by 3eb’s publicity team to catch their first headline jaunt post ursa-major.

the tour was a long time coming. it had been nearly six years since the group had toured on a new album, and with ursa major in constant rotation round these parts, i was giddy at the thought of hearing a set that’ll span a discography that is the exact era of grizzly i’d like to deem “post-puberty.” yeah, i went there.

hit the jump for the review. oh, and the verizon dudes acted like a bunch of assholes about my video recorder, so there’s no footage.

-grizzly

photo courtesy of university unions

we walked in the venue to find the stage already set up with third eye blind’s gear (the logo is unmistakable) and a quarter dome/planetarium thing set up. either we showed up too late or there wasn’t a tour opener. the doors were at 8 and i arrived around 8:40, so i’m gonna stick with the later. turns out, it was exactly as i guessed and it was a planetarium, and added a very ambient, albeit literal touch to the ursa major theme. [ed note: for those of you too lazy to use a wikipedia, ursa major is a constellation.]

photo courtesy of university unions

i’m not sure why, but i feel a band like third eye blind is almost required to open with an old song, so i was less than enthused to find “can you take me” kicking things off. that initial awkwardness was abruptly over come as “losing a whole year” took everyone back. surprisingly, most of the new stuff grew a worthy response, which doesn’t seem likely for the general attitude of a third eye blind fan. taking it a few notches higher, i was even more impressed with the fact that most people were familiar with it so soon after it’s release.

photo courtesy of university unions

this was definitely a show i have been looking forward to for a good chunk of my life, all things considering. not only because i had been listening to them for so long, but the fact that they’ve been consistently impressive with the product they put out coupled with the many memories i have attached to songs like “motorcycle driveby,” “slow motion” and “losing a whole year” are also obvious reasons. it’s so refreshing to see a band that has been around for an entire generation that still has a blast doing what they do, while maintaining a level of fluidity as performers and resilency as musicians in an industry that hasn’t always been kind to them.

photo courtesy of mah-raid

as with most headline sets, there are always a few lulls. they dragged ass with monotov’s private opera and played faster very haphazardly, which kind of upset me because it’s easily one of my favorites off of out of the vein. also, they gave brad hargreaves a drum solo. i’m all about drum solos in general, and not to be harsh but the guy is no way a phenomenal drummer that deserves that type of face time. other than that, the band was as on point as i’m sure they were in the latter years of the 90s, pleasing every single member of their very devout legion of fans.

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setlist:

can you take me
losing a whole year
faster
wounded
sharp knife
never let you go
bonfire
motorcycle drive-by
water landing
why can’t you be (acoustic)
palm reader (stephen jenkins played drums)
crystal baller (acoustic)
dao of st. paul
graduate pt I
brad hargreaves drum solo
graduate pt II
monotov’s private opera
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encore:
slow motion
don’t believe a word
semi-charmed life
bonfire (reprise)

note: none of the pictures are from the houston show. thank you to flickr.

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my whole childhood came around full circle. i am in love with nostalgia.