I arrived really late for this concert because I thought I was gonna be sitting down in the balcony portion of the arena, but entered the ballroom really fast as my sister was waiting in the front and a number of… incidents caused myself being right near the entrance. We don't have to talk about that now, don't worry, nothing illegal, hehe he…
Whatever happened to Third Eye Blind and Our Lady Peace tonight surely can't be blamed on both bands because they gave a hell of a show, but something just wasn't right. It wasn't the bands, it wasn't the performance… it was the sounds and the dammed ballroom.
Hammerstein Ballroom in my opinionation is the worst venue I have ever been to as a concert goer. Last year when I went to see Veruca Salt the sound quality was awful and the acoustics not much better. I expected but did not hope for the same results this time around, but that's what I got, ten times worse. You see, I was not allowed to sit in the balcony section of the Ballroom, instead I was stuck on the floor. Running to whatever section of the front row I could get to, I found myself situated to the right of the stage… right in front of 5 huge bass amplifiers.
All I heard was bass, drums and vocals (and sometimes not even that).
For 3 hours.
With almost no audible guitars.
While the bass lines for all bands, Eve 6, Our Lady Peace and Third Eye Blind are enjoyable; a bass line does not a concert make. It would have been better had I stayed home and listened to all three albums in a row.
Don't get me wrong, because Third Eye Blind was incredible, in song and performance. Their stage was set up with various pieces of furniture on top of another stage where the drummer would play. Stephen, Kevin and Arian all started atop this stage and then dropped down to the front of the stage. Stephen would occasionally go back up to this stage. Actually Stephen was everywhere, including in front of me!!! Now that was awesome and may have made up for the lack of guitar. Third Eye Blind performed seven songs and then the stage changed to a bedroom where the entire band sat, next to fluffed pillows and all, and performed a four song acoustic set. This included Burning Man, the B-Side Tattoo in the Sun and 2 new songs, one called Scattered (Shattered?) the other entitled Gorgeous. This set was completely audible and kicked immensely. The third act of the performance came when all the furniture was lifted to reveal two balconies, one filled with ladies plucked from the audience, the other a makeshift bar with its own barkeep, MTV's Matt Pinfield. Towards the end of the performance, Stephen ran up to the bar, demolished it and chased Matt away (it was a joke). 3eb came out for a two-song encore, and ended with their traditional ender God of Wine.
Third Eye Blind Set List for July 14 1998
Thanks A Lot
Narcolepsy
Motorcycle Drive By
Good For You
Horror Show (B-Side / Cover)
Jumper
Background
--ACOUSTIC SET--
Burning Man
Tattoo in the Sun (B-Side)
Scattered (Shattered?)
Gorgeous
-----------
How's it Gonna Be?
Losing A whole Year
London
Semi Charmed Life
Graduate
--ENCORE-
I will Follow (U2 cover, not shure of the full title)
God of Wine
The Booty: My sister, Michali and her friend Allison attended both the July 14 and 15 3eb shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom and both walked away with lots of swag: My sister got a 3eb set list from 07/14 and a Our Lady Peace set list and 3eb Stephen Jenkins' pick from 07/14. To my knowledge, Allison got Kevin's and Stephen's picks from 07/14 and 07/15 respectively.
The Verdict: The outgoing personalities of these three bands and the long lasting yet fast paced performance of 3eb saved what would have been the most boring 3 hours of my life and turned it into something worth watching and listening to, but there's no way I'm ever going to see another show at Hammerstein again.
Mixed review