LA’s Greek Theatre Welcomes OCEAN PARK STANDOFF, SILVERSUN PICKUPS And THIRD EYE BLIND!

Last night (Thursday, July 20) Third Eye Blind brought their Summer Gods Tour to the Los Angeles venue, the Greek Theatre. To help celebrate their 1997 self-titled debut album turning 20 years-old, the band decided to embark on this summer 2017 headlining tour.

Third Eye Blind brought along pop newcomers Ocean Park Standoff and the well known alt-rock band Silversun Pickups as openers of the show.

Ocean Park Standoff got the party started with their brand of effortless breezy pop tunes. This LA-based group is made up of Samantha Ronson, Pete Nappi and Ethan Thompson. Their debut EP was released via Hollywood Records on March 3rd. Despite their short set, they were energetic and lively and got the early concert-goers on their feet. They played their debut single “Good News” and other tracks “Lost Boys” and their newest single, “Get Gone.”

See our previous All Access interview with Ocean Park Standoff here: https://music.allaccess.com/an-interview-with-the-la-alt-pop-trio-ocean-park-standoff/

Next up was Silversun Pickups! This group was formed in 2000 and the band is made up of Brian Aubert, Nikki Monninger, Christopher Guanlao and Joe Lester. They have put out 4 full length albums; “Carnavas,” “Swoon,” “Neck of the Woods” and “Better Nature.” “Better Nature” was released last September and it is the first of the band’s albums to be released on their own label, New Machine Records.

Silversun Pickups performed a smattering of songs off all four of these collections. “Nightlight,” Panic Switch,” “Latchkey Kids” and “Circadian Rhythm (Last Dance)” were particularly enjoyed by everyone. They ended their set with another fan favorite, “Lazy Eye.” Front-man Brian repeatedly told the crowd how happy they were to be playing back home in LA.

Photo Credit – @hchurch75 (Heather Church)

Like any great anniversary tour, at each show concert goers get to watch the band perform their debut album in its entirety. Last night was certainly no exception. While Third Eye Blind opened with a couple songs not from their debut album, they soon got into that collection to everyone’s delight.

In a recent interview with Third Eye Blind front-man, Stephan Jenkins, the musician explained: “It’s a record that stayed alive with these generations of people, who find it online and share it with each other. They have this original, authentic and immediate experience with the album. It’s not a twenty-year old album to them, it feels like it’s a current album somehow. That’s phenomenal to me.  I haven’t seen that with other kinds of records, maybe it exists, but I haven’t seen it. I do really love it that people keep our music alive. This is really like a tour in gratitude.”

Formed in 1993, Third Eye Blind have released five full-length albums including their self-titled one, “Blue,” “Out Of The Vein,” “Ursa Major” and “Dopamine.”  To date, they have sold around 12 million records worldwide. The current list of active Third Eye Blind members include of course front-man Jenkins, Brad Hargreaves, Kryz Reid, Alex Kopp and Alex LeCavalier.

For about an hour and a half, the fellas of Third Eye Blind reminded the sold-out crowd just what a jam-packed album their self-titled collection was back then and still continues to be today. Hits like “Semi-Charmed Life,” “Jumper,” “Graduate,” “How’s It Going To Be” and others really got the crowd moving. It was hard to spot someone not singing along and re-living this music of 1997.

Throughout the show, Stephan asked fans to put their phones away and enjoy the moment. Towards the beginning of their set, he mentioned that we were not spectators at a Third Eye Blind show and that we were all part of the magic of the night. He even called out someone halfway through the show for filming him!

His dialogue with the audience was refreshing and his humble attitude about performing at the Greek was endearing. After all these years of playing, Third Eye Blind continues to be an excellent live band.

With only a few more shows left on this Summer Gods Tour, this writer strongly encourages readers to snatch up those tickets. You are definitely in for a night of fun new music and lots of legendary classics from Third Eye Blind! This tour wraps up in Berkeley, California on July 23rd.