Third Eye Blind Turn the Pearl Into a Vegas Singalong

Third Eye Blind came out before emo and pop-punk took over, but they have somehow found the emo, pop-punk, and alt-rock crowd all at once.

Warped Tour. Oceans Calling. Afterburn. Festival bills with New Found Glory, Bayside, Taking Back Sunday, Jimmy Eat World, The Used, All Time Low, and Dashboard Confessional. A weird road for a band that started in the '90s radio world.

Third Eye Blind songs have the kind of choruses you can't help but sing. Big hooks, bad decisions, anxiety, heartbreak, drugs, and sex. They were a precursor to the pop-punk and emo bands of the early-to-mid 2000s, and this show brought big hits, big energy, and a lot of singalongs.

Soft Echo opened the night from the local side of Las Vegas with a heavier shoegaze set. The guitars had the blur and the grit. It was a solid start before Third Eye Blind came out.

Third Eye Blind took the stage. Horror Show opened the set, then the band moved into the songs people came to hear. Never Let You Go, Graduate, Losing a Whole Year, Jumper, Semi-Charmed Life, and How's It Going to Be were all sung with a full crowd at the Pearl Concert Theater at the Palms.

This was a hit-heavy show. Third Eye Blind has more of those songs than people sometimes remember. The Pearl crowd was not just waiting for the big one. They were with the band through the whole set. That is where the emo and pop-punk connection feels less random. A lot of those scenes were built on songs that let people be loud about strong, angsty feelings, and Third Eye Blind had already been doing some version of that before the scene fully caught up.

Stephan Jenkins moved around the stage like he still enjoys the argument, and the band kept the songs sharp. Jumper got the huge singalong. Semi-Charmed Life had the whole theater singing the doo-doo-doo part. How's It Going to Be closed the night and left the crowd wanting more.

Third Eye Blind may have started in a different lane, but the crossover is not hard to see. A precursor to the emo, pop-punk, and alt-rock scenes, they fit there now and have earned the respect of the bands and fans that came later. At the Pearl, it was a full theater, a hit-heavy set, and as a fan, I was not embarrassed singing along to almost every song.

Photos and article by Kris West.