Third Eye Blind & Jimmy Eat World
June 22, 2019
Levitt Pavilion – Denver, Colorado
Words and photos by: Tyler Hypnarowski
“This show wasn’t supposed to happen” Stephan Jenkins proclaimed near the end of his band’s set. The Third Eye Blind frontman was aware of the rainy forecast across the Front Range of Colorado, including the possibly of strong cells of thunderstorms rolling right over Denver. The outlook at one point so bleak that the final call was made to leave the tour’s extensive lighting rig and stage production in the trucks and not on stage, another fact Jenkins lamented.
Nonetheless, the show went on as Jimmy Eat World took the stage in front of a soaked crowd while the occasional lightning bolt flashing in the distance. Who needs a fancy light system, anyway?
The Mesa, Arizona quintet got the crowd up and moving through the rain early with “Bleed American”, their 2001 single that seemingly played on repeat at skateparks across the country in the early 2000s. For the next 50 minutes they mixed distorted guitars with catchy melodies as they played upbeat songs like “A Praise Chorus”, “Work” and the fan favorite hit “Sweetness”. When they did slow things down, it proved worthwhile as the crowd seemed to appreciate and sing along to their acoustic number “Hear You Me”.
By the time they closed out their set with their biggest commercial hit to date in “The Middle” the rain had let up and against all odds, a few rays of sun even peaked through the hazy mile high air. Luckily for Third Eye Blind and their fans, it wouldn’t rain again for the rest of the night. Hey, don’t write yourself of yet…
Although it’s worth noting their set was marred with audio issues, mainly a criminally low volume. I’ve never been to a rock show where the decibel level was that low. The venue is new for 2019, so I’ll give them a one time pass.
Third Eye Blind walked onstage, embraced each other in a group huddle, then dove into two brand new songs to begin their set. Jenkins, dressed in a bright yellow hoodie that read “Hardcore Happiness” on the back, joked that their new album should’ve been released by now but hasn’t been. The new songs created enough intrigue to excite the crowd early, especially the classic 3EB sounding “The Kids”, but the real party began the next song when they broke into “Never Let You Go” and got the crowd singing along.
The band then offered up some slick musicianship as they perfectly segued the ending of “Rites of Passage” into “London” while slipping in a verse of the 2009 track “Can You Take Me” in between, all before jamming seamlessly into “Graduate”, one of the heaviest rocking tracks from their 1997 self-titled debut album. Speaking of that 6x platinum selling record, the evening’s show featured nine of the album’s fourteen songs including “Motorcycle Drive By” “Jumper” “I Want You” and more which made for some of the evening’s high points.
While many would probably argue their flagship hit “Semi-Charmed Life” was the highlight of the show, my money is on “God of Wine”, the sorrowful and bittersweet ballad that crescendos to a fever pitch. Just as the song’s power and emotion fit perfectly as a closer on that 1997 album, it seems to fit just as well as a show closer today. As many fans filtered to the exits after “Semi-Charmed Life” presumably ended the show, Jenkins assured them no hard feelings. “Really if you got to go it’s all good. We only want the people who want to burn and burn, just burn all summer long that’s it” he said genuinely without sarcasm as band newcomer Colin Creev played the deep cut’s intro on his piano.
So for a show that almost wasn’t, it all turned out pretty well. One week into an eight week run across the country, Jenkins said it was one of the “best night of the whole tour”. While that can certainly change for him, it will remain the best night of the tour for the approximately 3,000 fans who braved the elements and enjoyed a great night of music at one of Denver’s newest and coolest outdoor venues.
See all remaining Third Eye Blind and Jimmy Eat World “Summer of Gods” tour dates here.
