The bottom line: Third Eye Blind is an accessible band for the venue and budget available to us. Ten years after their mainstream success, which includes nine million albums sold, four Billboard Top-10 hits and placement on several Hollywood blockbuster soundtracks, Third Eye Blind is a working band with a large college following. In the past year they have played hundreds of colleges across the country including Boston, Dartmouth and Williams Colleges.
The alternative rock band brought its act to LeFrak Gymnasium this past Saturday night to a crowd of over 2,000 people, consisting of Amherst and Five College students, and those five or six “old” people who didn’t quite blend in. The audience reaction was varied; many absolutely loved it, some hated it, while others thought it just “okay.” Of course, a number of guests were in such good “spirits” heading into the concert that they would have enjoyed a full two-hour set of A-HA.
Unfortunately, the acoustics of LeFrak Gymnasium are mediocre at best. I consider myself a Third Eye Blind fan, but even I had a hard time enjoying the show because the sound in the gym was so bad at times.
I must give the band full credit; they have played hundreds of shows to inebriated college kids over the past two years, yet they treated Saturday night’s performance as if they were playing to a sold-out Madison Square Garden. Third Eye Blind included a four-song acoustic set in the middle of their show on a separate stage at the opposite end of the gym, providing everyone the chance for a close view. They played all of their hits and only plugged three unreleased songs. Unfortunately, however, only the truest of fans could recognize and sing along with the 10 or so other songs on the set list that came from their three studio albums.
The show featured lead-guitar, bass and drums solos. Lead singer Stephan Jenkins repeatedly interacted with the audience, declaring at one point that “crowd-surfing is for chicks”—a remark that was not well received. The audience was loud for much of the show, singing along, clapping and waving arms and, of course, crowd-surfing. All in all, the show went off without a hitch; the band took the stage on time and delivered what was expected of them. The crowd’s reaction at the show’s conclusion to the timeless hit, “Semi-Charmed Life,” certainly reaffirmed Third Eye Blind’s stamp on our generation.
It is evident that at a diverse institution like Amherst, no one artist or group will please everyone, unless, of course, President Tony Marx decides to pony up the dough for Bruce Springsteen or Jay-Z next year. It is also clear that Amherst students love to criticize and complain (most often anonymously). Members of the Amherst College Program Board and other student groups dedicated their extra time to put together a show many of them did not even vote for. Many changes are being considered regarding the process of the Spring Concert and hopefully next year we will be fortunate enough again to have a show that many of the College’s students can enjoy. As far as Third Eye Blind is concerned, “those little red panties [still] pass the test.”