I sometimes wonder if I never super got into Third Eye Blind because of their album cover design. The logo and artwork on their debut looked like a bad poster for a horror film. Or maybe I was confused by some perceived affectation of their phrasing.
The reality is more likely that 1996 was an in-between year for me. I was two years out of college and trying to figure out what I was doing for a living, spending less time at midnight CD sales.
I still loved music, I just loved a little less this particular year.
Albums by Sublime, Cibo Matto, Modest Mouse and (gulp) Dave Matthews Band got repeated listens… while new music from favorites like REM (New Adventures in Hi-Fi), Pearl Jam (No Code), Weezer (Pinkerton), and They Might Be Giants (Factory Showroom) didn’t click right off the bat.
Anyway, Casey and Kathryn dug Third Eye Blind and we stumbled into tickets for their show at Riverbend.
I knew a handful of songs and spent a good chunk of the time watching the crowd. There were some loud irksome drunks (not uncommon), but also oodles of appreciative fans, like this kid with his parents in front of us. His air guitar chops were on point and he knew when to fly the devil horns.
1996 was not a great year for me. Nothing major, just eh. I felt the same way about the music. Just, eh.
That’s a great picture up there.