Third Eye Blind is going on tour this summer with Yellowcard and A R I Z O N A. That tour kicks off in early June, but that doesn’t mean that the band has been sitting around. They’ve been doing shows at various festivals and a few one-off gigs here and there. In fact, leading up to the 2024 Summer Gods tour, they’re doing a handful of shows and we got to take in the vibe at the Spirit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde, OR.
The venue itself isn’t particularly noteworthy, essentially a large convention room with floor seating with a modest stadium style bleacher section in the back. Nearly every seat in the venue was filled however.
With no opening band, Third Eye Blind opened up their set with Thanks a Lot from their Self-Titled 1997 album. The band sounded good, however lead singer Stephan Jenkins sounded a bit rough. Perhaps he went a bit too hard in Toppenish the night prior or was just needing some time to get the vocals into touring shape. By the third or fourth song the soundboard had everything dialed in and Stephan’s vocals were on-point.
During a break in the set Stephan rambled about not being pressured like it would feel on a major tour. “We’re playing a lot of songs tonight that won’t make the summer tour. There’s no weight of a new album or anything”, he said. He went on saying “We’re just kinda fucking around and having a good time” to which the crowd replied with enthusiastic cheers and applause.
Roughly six songs into the set they played Jumper and the crowd exploded. Although much of the crowd was already on their feet, the few holdouts jumped up and joined in. That energy carried on for the remainder of the set. At the end of Funeral Singers, the band thanked the crowd and left the stage, leaving the lead guitar to reverberate through the room until eventually fading out. That’s when the band returned and closed out the set with Semi-Charmed Life and How’s It Going To Be.
It was a great night of live music and I look forward to catching them again as they kick off their tour back in the pacific northwest. Third Eye Blind has two more shows before they kick off their Summer Gods 2024 tour. Visit https://www.thirdeyeblind.com/ for more information.
