STEPHAN JENKINS AND CO. POWERED THROUGH LONGEST SET ON TOUR

He’s never been so alive. Stephan Jenkins and Third Eye Blind played a nearly sold out show at Inglewood’s semi-new YouTube Theater featured inside SoFi Stadium. Here’s a band I’ve grown up with, listening to from both my parents and the immaculate debut self-titled record. The only time I was lucky to catch them was back in 2015 when they played Irvine Meadows and sat in the lawn. Jenkins’ voice carried throughout the amphitheater without hesitation, and something similar happened at the 6,000 capacity venue last night.

Australian openers Hockey Dad performed with lots of angst and delivered a great set, however it was abysmal at how many fans were opting to get drinks and mingle outside. They still played as if they were performing for a Fonda or El Rey crowd though so good on them. Up next were pop-punk legends Taking Back Sunday. It’s a name everyone has seen on flyers, posters, tours but up until this point, I had never given them a listen. The crowd immediately looked sold out, with the pit erupting with a small group of fans moshing to their pop punk heroes. It was an odd pairing, I thought to myself, but there seemed to be overlap nonetheless. Singer Adam Lazzara brought lots of presence, cracking jokes about being sad and making teenagers angsty with much love from the crowd, commenting on the nature of likes and subscriptions while playing at the meta YouTube Theater. Though not a fan necessarily, I left their set with an appreciation of them.

About a half hour later, I waited in the photo pit with a handful of photographers and videographers broadcasting the show for the screens used by fans in the top balconies. Intro music began as the lights slowly faded to black with a stage rapped in fabricated wooden sticks. There was a runway where the piano player and drummer of the band walked onto for their respective setups with the guitarist and bass player stood on the venue stage. Not sooner after, frontman Stephan Jenkins ran out to a roar of screams as the band went into “Ways” before transitioning to “Thanks a Lot.”

Dressed in all white with a neon yellow beanie, Jenkins and the band focused mostly on newer material towards the first half of the set with trickled fan favorites such as “Never Let You Go” and a hard rock yet intimate rendition of Joy Division’s “Disorder” which marked the tenth song of the set. Given a minute, Jenkins commented on how beautiful the audience was, citing that he was told he blew out his vocal chords a few days earlier. The audience seemed concerned, but the singer rest assured that ,“You’re at a fucking Third Eye Blind show. I don’t fucking care.” He sounded great nonetheless although he didn’t go for his higher bravados on certain tracks due to this I’m sure.

From then on, the band treated fans to “Narcolepsy” with everyone singing along. At this point, I exited the photo pit to my seat which was something I had never done before. A rare occasion for being a photographer was that you could stay passed the three song mark during the band’s set. Third Eye Blind welcomed photographers to document the entirety of their set. Entirety. Although tempted, I wanted to enjoy the material from my seated perspective as a fan as well to use in this review which I believe worked out for the best.

Other classics from their immaculate self-titled record were performed to the T from “Graduate” to “Wounded” which I learned acts as a prequel to their track “The Background.” With the latter track, the band left Jenkins solo equipped with his acoustic guitar to perform it before he stated that he wanted to try something different and get an audience reaction of which track to perform. I myself would have loved to hear “The Background” but Jenkins opted for “Mine,” a Beyonce cover which was pretty great. After that, the band was welcomed back on stage and it was back to the hits. The anticipation of what they would play next was visible in the crowd, with the opening riff to “Losing a Whole Year” getting everyone to begin jumping, because everyone was up on their feet since song one.

Jenkins brushed off sweat before beginning one of my favorites, “Motorcycle Drive By” while stating that this show was the longest set of the tour so far. Of course, number one track “Jumper” was played as the 21st track of the set. The band left the stage with everyone looking at one another thinking, “wait I haven’t heard so on and so on.” Five minutes passed then the band took to the stage one last time, Jenkins ditching the beanie and long sleeve, delivering a dramatic, intense version of “Semi-Charmed Life” and putting the punctuation on the night with “How’s It Going to Be.” The message of the show from the band was clear: every fan of theirs is family to them and to one another, and we have to treat each other as such. With a beautiful stance like that, it’s no question as to why Third Eye Blind live up to their “Gods of Summer” tour name. Check out the set list here!