THIRD EYE BLIND
Reno Hilton Amphitheatre
Reno, Nevada
9/1/2000
With the arrival of Third Eye Blind to the Reno/Tahoe area, also seemed to come the arrival of the fall season. These conditions certainly hailing in the end of the outdoor concert season, and for good reason. Driving into Reno, it was cold, dark and rainy---a perfect night to stay at home and watch a good movie on the tube. To my surprise, I found the Reno Hilton Amphitheatre to be directly under some very patchy blue sky that was surrounded by an ominous black ring of clouds. An unknown force was seemingly keeping the weather at bay just around the concert venue. I like to fantasize that it was the omnipotent power of music that provided this dry spell for us. I was suddenly very excited about getting out of the car to see some music, thank goodness for small graces. This was the last night of Third Eye Blind's tour and the band was glad to be close to home again. Third Eye Blind is no stranger to the bay area, formed in the melting pot of San Francisco's music scene, and they call the bay their home. At one point during the concert, Stephan Jenkins even mentioned that one of the band members had lived in Reno for awhile. The crowd cheered this comment on with exuberant hometown pride.
The showed was opened by another new young band, this fit right in with the motif of the evening, which was "young." This was clearly obvious to me when I turned around to check out the audience from the pit as I was getting my camera gear ready for the photo shoot. I expected to see the usual leather, tattoos, and piercings and was stunned to see the entire front line of railheads to all be 12 to 16 year old girls. This would have been a revelation for any father, but especially to me, being the father of a newborn baby girl who is now just nine and a half weeks old. Nine Days was the name of the opening band and they were great, they did a punk rock style version of the classic song "Video Killed the Radio Star." They strutted the stage like seasoned professionals, and it was very obvious to me that they had all chosen the right job on career day in school.Third Eye Blind came on stage a little after 9:00 pm, each member of the band dressed in their own eclectic anti fashion circus. Third Eye plays that kind of no frills, straight ahead brand of rock and roll; no keyboards, just guitar, bass, and drums. These few instruments can surely make more than enough noise for any band who knows how to answer their calling. This concert tour comes directly after the introduction of Third Eye Blind's second album entitled "Blue," which was released late last year by Elektra. Third Eye Blind's self titled debut album came out in 1997 and has reached the exalted status of multi-platinum. This catapulted Third Eye Blind immediately into the ranks of stardom. The show sounded quite rocking, if you could hear it over the cries of teenage girls in crazed frenzy, lovingly screaming sweet nothings at their idols when they ventured to the front of the stage. The weather decided that music, magic, or not, it was coming into play. The band seemed to derive energy from the storm and as the rain came down harder, frontman Jenkins mumbled something about coming out there with the crowd. He suddenly appeared near the base of the bleachers at the back of the floor section wearing a giant top hat and began singing to the crowd. The rain was really coming down, but the crowd around Jenkins was oblivious to the downpour as they reached out to touch him. I hope you didn't miss this show, because it isn't every day that a great band comes to your town. Thanks for reading and we'll see ya at the shows.
Nick Running
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