REVIEW: A partly cloudy solstice with Third Eye Blind

Posted by arts_reviews

Posted: June 22, 2008 - 3:29 am

Dawnell Smith
Daily News Correspondent

Remember those generic packages of "Peanut Butter," "Corn Flakes," and "Beer" from the 1980s? Well, Third Eye Blind sounded like "Rock" at the Moose's Tooth Pub and Pizzeria Saturday night.

"Rock" as in hits and solos and attitude; "Rock" as in big sunglasses and ratty jeans; "Rock" as in "Where's the roll?"

The audience found the beer, pies and portable cans easily enough—and even a bit of sun before the clouds rolled in on one of the coolest solstices in years—but folks looked hard pressed to find the flair or magic of a concert to remember.

As Stephan Jenkins belted out hits from the band's hugely successful1997 debut album, "Third Eye Blind," people sang along with hands high and hearts in tune, but once the band strayed from familiar territory, the audience lost interest. Truth is, the songs began to sound the same, founded on a formula of mixing pop hooks and rock riffs, but never quite mastering the magnetic pull of either.

The band—vocalist/guitarist Jenkins, bassist Leo Kremer, guitarist Tony Fredianelli and drummer Brad Hargreaves—performed ably enough, reliable if ordinary in their solos, except for lively drum work by Hargreaves, who once got bodies jamming to a funky groove between songs.

Playing outdoors made matters worst. Bouts of scream-o bluster came across loud and clear, but many of the vocals got lost in the general din. Besides, no matter how hard he tried, how often he beat his chest, how enthusiastically he thanked the crowd, Jenkins just couldn't build rapport beyond the first few dozen rows.

Loyal fans and partiers clearly loved every the show, lip-syncing the lyrics and throwing their bodies onto the throng, but most people looked only moderately enthusiastic. Some looked bored, befuddled and vaguely amused as Jenkins yelled, "Let's let summer into our hearts together!" and "What do you think, can we come together as one?"

The man can toss out platitudes and swagger in equal measure. He even spread out his arms in a gesture of hubris, like Robert Downy Jr. in "Iron Man," right before he gets nailed with shrapnel. But Jenkins is no Robert Downy Jr. and the irony of the gesture eluded him.

Ah, but the Third Eye Blind hits twitched a nerve in even the most stoic of solstice partiers, prompting even the fringe crowd to sway and thrash about, singing along to lines like "I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend," from "Jumper" and howling to punk-infused guitar in gems like "Graduate," also from the band's debut album.

The set included tunes from all three albums, including "Never Let you Go," "Deep Inside of You" and the audacious "1,000 Julys" from the band's 1999 release, "Blue," and "Faster," "Danger" and "Crystal Baller" from 2003's "Out of the Vein."

Perhaps the lack of fresh material made it hard for the band to generate buzz, though Jenkins promised to carry the crowd's energy into the recording studio in San Francisco next month. Let's hope they take more than Saturday's energy with them, because Third Eye Blind can use another spate of songs like "Semi-Charmed Life," a sardonic twist of a tune that inflamed the crowd's flagging vigor as the pre-encore finale Saturday night.

The tune worked like a charm as the night's show-stopper, partly because of its elegant, irresistible hook, and partly because the band spiced it up with a little Nelly and Led Zeppelin.

When it comes to generic rock, a little spice goes a long way.

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