What do Third Eye Blind have to offer in 2016?
Besides inadvertently injecting themselves into the current presidential race, the band saw WayHome as the perfect opportunity to introduce the brand of beach-bum philosophy that carried them to the top of the charts in the late '90s to a new generation of fans. Results, however, were mixed.
Playing to a surprisingly robust main-stage audience, they opened with "Faster," and wander through their catalogue before finally landing on "Never Let You Go." During the song's breakdown, frontman Stephan Jenkins gave a lengthy speech about "living for the moment" one of several ill-advised diatribes the singer engaged in during the San Francisco quintet's set.
The band have a surprisingly robust discography despite their reputation as a one hit wonder. They played each of their massive radio hits ("Losing a Whole Year", "Graduate") and even the deep cut "Motorcycle Drive-By" from that same self-titled album, but sprinkled them in between newer material from their other four studio albums — all of which seemed unknown to the crowd of 20-somethings. "Jumper" and "Semi-Charmed Life" were received rapturously. Songs from their latest, Dopamine, were not, giving the set a stilted energy, undercut by Jenkins hammy faux-sincerity that he felt was necessary to sell the band to the crowd. Bizarre snippets of Prince's "I Would Die 4 U" and Daft Punk's "Get Lucky' received similar shrugs.
Third Eye Blind's set was a rare case of a band delivering everything the audience wanted, yet still failing to truly connect.
Besides inadvertently injecting themselves into the current presidential race, the band saw WayHome as the perfect opportunity to introduce the brand of beach-bum philosophy that carried them to the top of the charts in the late '90s to a new generation of fans. Results, however, were mixed.
Playing to a surprisingly robust main-stage audience, they opened with "Faster," and wander through their catalogue before finally landing on "Never Let You Go." During the song's breakdown, frontman Stephan Jenkins gave a lengthy speech about "living for the moment" one of several ill-advised diatribes the singer engaged in during the San Francisco quintet's set.
The band have a surprisingly robust discography despite their reputation as a one hit wonder. They played each of their massive radio hits ("Losing a Whole Year", "Graduate") and even the deep cut "Motorcycle Drive-By" from that same self-titled album, but sprinkled them in between newer material from their other four studio albums — all of which seemed unknown to the crowd of 20-somethings. "Jumper" and "Semi-Charmed Life" were received rapturously. Songs from their latest, Dopamine, were not, giving the set a stilted energy, undercut by Jenkins hammy faux-sincerity that he felt was necessary to sell the band to the crowd. Bizarre snippets of Prince's "I Would Die 4 U" and Daft Punk's "Get Lucky' received similar shrugs.
Third Eye Blind's set was a rare case of a band delivering everything the audience wanted, yet still failing to truly connect.
