Third Eye Blind revisits first album at SPAC
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Humorist John Hodgman calls nostalgia a toxic impulse, at best an unproductive pursuit and at worst a poisonous idea that the past was better — yet by definition unattainable.
With a constant stream of sequels, reboots and comebacks in popular culture, there are no shortage of opportunities to revisit the recent past.
That’s not what Third Eye Blind, led by frontman Stephan Jenkins, is doing in its Summer Gods tour.
“I’m not one to look back, I’m not nostalgic,” Jenkins told a frenzied crowd at Saratoga Performing Arts Center Saturday night. “The only reason we’re here is because our music has been kept alive and that’s solely and completely because of you guys.”
The band named its “Summer Gods Tour” after an EP that hasn’t been released yet. Instead of playing much new material, however, the current lineup of Jenkins, lead guitarist Kryz Reid, keyboardist Alex Kopp, bassist Alex LeCavalier and drummer Brad Hargreaves spent the majority of the night playing through its historic debut entitled “Third Eye Blind.” The album, which went six times platinum in 1997, is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
This tour is the first — and last — time the band will play the album straight through from start to finish, according to Jenkins. He left the stage after that explanation and a giant Broadway-style “Third-EyeBlind” sign was lowered below a semi-circle of lights with streamers. The circle’s oval shape made it look like a giant eye staring back at the crowd (picture a less ominous eye of Sauron from “Lord of the Rings”).
That was the cue for the band to launch into the album opener “Losing a Whole Year,” one of several songs with serious, painful lyrics played as feel-good anthem. The band moved on to “Narcolepsy” before beginning a stretch of music that in many ways defines Third Eye Blind’s career for many fans.
The four-song run of “Semi-Charmed Life” followed by “Jumper,” “Graduate,” and “How’s It Going to Be” does just about as well as any textbook to define what popular music was in 1997. The songs were inescapable. Catchy. Earworms of the highest quality. And guess what? They still are.
The crowd sang each lyric of that run and Jenkins — with a double neck guitar for “Semi-Charmed” — made sure each song was more memorable than the next.
He also took time during a slower moment to ask fans in the audience to put their phones down.
“You won’t ever capture this moment on Instagram,” Jenkins said. “The only way to live forever is to live right now.”
After the high-energy conclusion of “How’s It Going to Be,” the band moved on to hard-rocking versions of “Thanks a Lot” and “Burning Man.”
It was impossible to get back to the heights of the first half of the album, but one thing both halves have in common is songs that translate well to a live show.
After pretending to end the show with two songs remaining, Jenkins returned for the encore wearing a Third Eye Blind Summer Gods tour shirt. The band ended the night with the album closer “God of Wine.” Jenkins promised to return once the EP was done then chucked the shirt into the crowd.
The night may have been centered around an album two decades old, but the enthusiasm and showmanship of Third Eye Blind made the performance once that stands on its own in 2017.
Silversun Pickups
A review of Saturday’s show wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the stunning performance by the Silversun Pickups. The Los Angles foursome of lead singer/guitarist Brian Aubert, bassist Nikki Monninger, keyboardist Joe Lester and drummer Christopher Guanlao played with an intensity that had the crowd up and moving early in the night. Their music weaves progressive rock instrumentals with longing vocals from Aubert.
In one of the many highlights, the band paused during “Panic Switch” to hear the a pulsing baseline from Monninger before finishing the piece with flair.
The set ended with “Lazy Eye” a song on the album Carnavas that starts quiet and gets loud. As a live piece, the band found an even more intense third gear for an explosive ending to a high-quality set of music.
The performance alone was worth the trip to Spa State Park.
Ocean Park Standoff opened the night to the delight of those on the premises early enough to enjoy them.