Attending a show headlined by 90’s alternative rock greats Third Eye Blind and early 2000’s pop-punk kings Yellowcard, you would be right to expect an evening awash in nostalgia. But neither band played to those tropes, instead choosing to mix in a number of newer and deeper cuts into their setlists, along with a few other surprises, for a refreshing and still hugely joyous evening.
Opening the show was a band that likely grew up on both headliners, much like I did, Arizona. The New Jersey-based band (don’t let their band name fool ya) played a tight blend of synth pop and dance rock that may make you think of Future Islands, especially watching the frontman’s enthusiastic dance moves. I was unfamiliar with the group, but quickly hooked right off the bat with the excellent “Cross My Mind”. Their songs are all about hooks and melody, with fantastic vocals to power the simple yet memorable choruses. Hearing them, I felt like they could have been playing the Cruel World fest, opening for Duran Duran, and would have fit right in. There’s some serious 80’s influences here, yet they seemed to be welcomed by the crowd looking forward to the two bands who’s styles represent music from later eras. After the group closed with the high-energy “Freak Out”, I queued up a few of their songs to enjoy for my ride home.
I first saw Yellowcard decades ago opening for Less Than Jake before Ocean Avenue came out, then at a headlining show after they broke-out, and then just a year ago at When We Were Young. I expected a typical opening-band set based around the hits. I would be wrong.
As the sun was starting to set, Yellowcard came out to cheers from the crowd.This was clearly not an audience solely there for TEB. I still chuckle thinking back to my interview with Ryan Key from a couple years ago where he reinforced the idea that the band would not be touring again, and Key seemed to still be surprised that they were not just back together, but playing the biggest shows of their lives.
The set began with a couple expected hits; the heavier “Lights and Sounds” from 2006’s record of the same name, and the power-pop-punk ballad “Only One”. Things still felt safe with “Southern Air”, a 2012 cut which has grown on me considerably the last couple years. While addressing the audience, Key shouted out his love for Third Eye Blind and gratitude for being on the tour, and discussed how he and the band were all 90’s kids, and tried to apply those 90’s influences to their album Lift a Sail, which was celebrating its 10th anniversary. Despite saying their fans “hated” the record upon release, he felt it had grown on folks over the years, and they were going to play a few tracks from it.
I admit that I am not nearly as familiar with their post Lights and Sounds albums (minus last year’s EP Childhood Eyes) as I am their earlier work, but as I listened to “Transmission Home”, “One Bedroom” and “Lift a Sail”, I started realizing I may have been missing out on some very solid music. These songs were good! Why didn’t I know them (or know them better)? Perhaps I hadn’t been ready for them when they first came out, much like their other fans, looking for the more familiar pop-punk type songs.
After dipping into the title track from last year’s comeback EP, the band played “Keeper” from 2007’s Paper Walls and “Be the Young” from 2011’s When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes. And I liked them too! I realized I had to fully reconsider my entire view of later-era Yellowcard, as the band closed with their monster hit “Ocean Avenue”. It’s about time these post Ocean Avenue albums received their due. As a long-time fan, I would have liked to hear some early deep-cuts like “Rock Star Land”, “Powder”, or their Spider-Man 2 track “Gifts and Curses” (the latter two are still criminally unavailable on Spotify), but I will still say I enjoyed their set immensely.
And then came Third Eye Blind. This was my second or third time seeing the band, and I knew not to go into their set with expectations. The band have released a lot of albums, along with some singles and EPs, and Stephen Jenkins is no traditional frontman. I expected he wouldn’t simply play their self-titled front to back, but which albums he would draw from was anyone’s guess. As far as opening with the fan favorite “Motorcycle Drive By”, I think it goes without saying that was a crowd pleaser. The audience was one voice singing along, and with the fog machine creating a haze across the stage, the ambience was perfect. And from there, the band went into a deep cut – “Dust Storm” from 2021’s A Bande Apart, a soothing and mellow track that wouldn’t necessarily scream “live song” to me, but what made it pop was the band tying it to a clear forbear, The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven”, as they broke out into a brief cover of that song before closing out the original track.
And then came Blue‘s biggest hit “Never Let You Go”, another one which had every member of the crowd singing, even during those falsetto moments. While the crowd enjoyed “Narcolepsy” a little more than me (not a track that ever connected with me personally), I can say I likely enjoyed the anthemic “The Kids Are Coming (To Take You Down)” more than most of them, as that was my favorite track from 2019’s Screamer. An even more unexpected cover came next, as the band played a bit of TV on the Radio’s gold-selling “Wolf Like Me”, before transitioning into 2016’s energetic “Company of Strangers”. “Graduate” was powerful as “Wounded” was vulnerable.
After performing “Losing a Whole Year” solo, crew members changed-up the stage set-up, creating an intimate sitting arrangement for the band to play unplugged. I dug the change-up, with the band performing album track “Background”, a Beyonce cover “Mine”, and a jangly version of “Blinded (When I See You)”. Outside of this and a snippet of “Faster”, Out of the Vein didn’t get much representation, but Ursa Minor fared worse, with only a bit of “Water Landing” making it into the set. I’ve been a big fan of that 2009 comeback album, and pray the band breaks out “Sharp Knife” one of these days.
As the unplugged set-up was cleared, Jenkins stood alone on the stage again, but he wouldn’t for long. As he discussed L.A. being a second home, a place where he has a number of friends, he brought one of them out – Machine Gun Kelly. And they chose the perfect track to duet on; “Slow Motion”. The lyrically dark song is signature TEB, but clearly a fit for MGK’s persona. And thankfully, Kelly didn’t attempt to freestyle any rap verses into the song.
With Kelly’s departure, the rest of the band returned for the big moments of the night: “Jumper” and “Semi-Charmed Life”. The first had people throwing their arms over each other, hugging and singing with all their hearts. And the latter elicited cheers, as it’s not the easiest track to sing-along to (I’ve done it karaoke, and still can’t keep up). As that huge hit concluded, people started to file out. Those people missed “How’s It Going to Be” – one final moment to lose your voice singing in the fog-filled theatre.
I was a fan of both bands before the show, and remain so after this great evening. And Arizona are definitely a band to know if you don’t already. Grab tickets to one of their upcoming shows here!
The Indy Review 