Tag: Third Eye Blind

The last time I saw Third Eye Blind was in 1996. They opened for Oasis at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. They didn’t have a record deal, and nobody who purchased tickets purchased tickets to see them because, well, they were never advertised. I thought that they were catchy, but didn’t really think much of them.  One year later, they released the record that was impossible to hide from. Cut to 1999, they release a second record, called Blue. Didn’t have any hits, and the band seemed to fall off of everyone’s radar.  In 2003, they released a third record, which featured production by Andrew WK and vocals from Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches and Kim Shattuck of The Muffs.  It sold about 500,000 copies, which is a dramatic drop off from the six million of the first record. It was also the record that taught me to like the band.  They were much more aggressive and passionate then they ever had been, which of course meant they were dropped from their major label deal.

Fast forward to 2009. They release their first record on an independent label.  Bands such as Fall Out Boy and Taking Back Sunday rise to prominence, borrowing a few strategies from the 3EB playbook, especially the fusion of power pop with elements of grunge. They think it’s time for a comeback. It’s time for the rest of the world to figure it out, too.
Continue reading “Third Eye Blind, The Upwelling at The Fox Oakland, 8/17/09”