(Listening to Third Eye Blind)

A few nights ago, I went to a Third Eye Blind show, by myself.  The wife was supposed to go with me, but at the last-minute, the kids got sick.  The wife knew how much I was looking forward to going to the show, so she just told me to go and have a good time.  I sent a message to a few of my friends to see if anyone wanted to go, but everyone had plans.  So, I went by myself and sold the extra ticket at the door.  No big deal.

I do a lot of things by myself.  I go to shows by myself, I go snowboarding by myself, I’ll go to a movie by myself.  Sometimes it’s hard to find friends to go with, especially last-minute.  Most of my friends are married and have kids and that lifestyle doesn’t really lend itself to spontaneity.  Hanging out with married friends with kids is kind of like going to dinner at a new hot spot in town; if you don’t make reservations at least a month out, then forget about it.  My wife and I are the same way.  So, sometimes it’s just easier to do our own thing.  Have you ever tried to get a group of people to buy tickets for a show?  Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t.  Everyone decides it’s a good idea, then some people buy their tickets right way and some wait and miss out.  Then it’s like, “Why didn’t we all buy our tickets together?” and people are butt-hurt and some feel guilty.  Or, one person buys all the tickets, and then people drop out one by one and someone is left with 4 extra tickets.  It’s a nightmare.  When I go by myself, I see shows I want to see and if friends want to come along, great!  If not, no big deal.

I enjoy introvert time.  The wife and I both do.  We work hard to provide for our family and we work hard at being parents, so we recognize the fact that we just need to be able to shut down the engines, recharge, and just be humans; not mom, not dad, not husband, not wife…just humans.  Of course we love doing stuff together and we love spending time with our friends, but sometimes it’s just nice to be able to shift the brain into neutral.

The Third Eye Blind show was my neutral.  The show took place at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver.  It’s a great venue to see a show.  I’d guess the place holds about 2,000 people and the floor is all general admission so you can get as close to the action as you can push.  I’ve seen a number of shows there.  It’s an older venue and a lot of musicians have graced the place with their talent.  Pictures of all the acts that have come through hang on one of the walls.  There are old school chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.  It feels like something out of the 1930’s.  It’s just a great vibe.

While I was waiting in line outside, there were two guys and two girls in front of me.  I assumed they were couples.  They were taking pulls from a Fireball bottle.  As we neared the front of the line they faced a dilemma.  The bottle wasn’t empty, they didn’t want it to go to waste, so they were talking about how to smuggle it into the show.  One of the guys said crudely, “You have two choices, next to the wang or prison style.”  I chuckled overhearing their situation and finally one of the guys chose door number one.  So there he is, shoving this bottle down the front of his pants, but the last person to drink from it didn’t put the cap on tight, so he now Fireball down the front of his pants.  They started making more jokes, and I just chuckled and thought, “There’s no way he makes it in with that bottle.”  But, concert security isn’t like airline security and as it turns out, concert security shies away from checking the private areas, so he made it through the turnstile without a problem.  A few moments later, I see them all take some more pulls from the bottle.  I hope they cleaned it first.

Anyway, I got inside, grabbed a beer, took my place in the crowd, and just enjoyed the show.  Sure, I made small talk with a few people around me, but it was mindless.  I just enjoyed the music.  Here was the set list.

1. Losing a Whole Year
2. Blinded (When I See You)
3. Narcolepsy
4. Faster
5. Wounded
6. 1000 Julys
7. Semi-Charmed Life
8. Company of Strangers
9. Graduate
10. Back to Zero
11. London
12. Slow Motion
    (Stephan solo)
13. How’s It Going to Be
    (Stephan solo acoustic)
14. Mine
    (Beyoncé cover)
15. Motorcycle Drive By
16. Crystal Baller
17. Jumper
18. Never Let You Go
19. God of Wine

They played all the favorites.  At first, Stephan Jenkins’ voice sounded every day of 53 years old, but he warmed up nicely.  He had a hard time with some of the highs, but what can you expect from someone who has been doing this for the last 20 years?

It was a trip down memory lane.  I remember buying Third Eye Blind’s first album during my sophomore year of college.  That’s the album that’s most nostalgic for me.  It reminded me of hanging out with my old friends.  We’d go to school or work all week and cut loose on the weekends and even some week nights.  We’d go to bars and shows.  We’d make a weekend trip to Colorado to snowboard.  We’d go to a ballgame.  We’d hang out in the dorms or catch a movie.  We’d grab a bite to eat.  We’d go to our local coffee house.  Anyone was just a phone call away and it wouldn’t take any more than a, “Hey, you want to do _________ tonight?” to get someone to come out.  All we had was time and we had endless ways to fill it.  Nobody had schedules and plans became concrete on a whim.  That’s just what we did and Third Eye Blind was part of the soundtrack to that life.

I got to relive that for a few hours; and as fun as it was to be a human for a while, I couldn’t wait to get back home and be dad.