Despite playing in a relatively small venue with fans packed in and cheering, it took a song called “Narcolepsy” for Third Eye Blind to drive the energy level up in the audience at Ritchie Coliseum Friday night.
Over 1,500 students and fans crowded into Ritchie for the concert, presented by Student Entertainment Events. While the audience gave the band a big welcome, frontman Stephan Jenkins chose a moment in the middle of “Narcolepsy” to wake up the crowd.
“An hour and a half. An hour and a half. That’s how long it took you guys to sell this out,” Jenkins said to a huge cheer. “That makes us feel like we are really in a good mood, like we’re really gonna throw down, like we’re just gonna crush this thing.”
Throughout the concert, Jenkins pointed his mic out to the crowd, as fans seemed to know every lyric to every song the band performed, singing along and crowd surfing to “Semi-Charmed Life,” “Jumper” and “Never Let You Go.”
In an interview before the show, guitarist Tony Fredianelli said the band chose Ritchie in the hope that the smaller venue would limit the crowd to the band’s longtime fans.
“These are core fans, so people should be pretty up,” Fredianelli said. “They wanted us to play a bigger venue, but we wanted to keep it for our tried and true fans. They’ve been with us.”
SEE Concert Director Marcus DePaula said Ritchie hadn’t been used for a concert since 2002 or 2003, and said one of his goals had been to bring a band in to play the venue this fall.
“It’s a wonderful venue,” DePaula said. “It’s intimate, it’s got great acoustics, there’s not a bad seat in the house. It’s a club that we have on campus, essentially.”
The acoustics certainly sounded like a smaller venue, especially after the band finished the initial set with “Semi-Charmed Life.” The band left the stage to a massive roar, which continued unabated until they returned for a three-song encore.
Doors for the show opened at 6:30 p.m., and The Upwelling started the show with an eight-song opening set. While the audience cheered and even clapped to the beat for a few of the songs, the set only heightened the anticipation for Third Eye Blind.
The band didn’t disappoint.
Junior business major Jeremy Bolotsky said he was satisfied with the show and enjoyed some of the songs he hadn’t heard before.
“I’ve been a fan of theirs for a long time,” Bolotsky said. “I thought it was very good, even all of the newer stuff.”
Fredianelli said before the show the band would try to integrate new songs into the act.
Third Eye Blind hasn’t released an album since 2003, but Fredianelli said the group has been playing new songs such as “A Sharp Knife” and “Campfire” at concerts while working on a new record.
“‘Campfire’ and ‘A Sharp Knife’ have really good vibes,” said Fredianelli, who said the group includes the songs in most of its live sets. “They have this energy, just a lot of energy that just pumps out of the speakers.”
Kay Lamar, a student at St. Mary’s College, said the show was worth the $36.50 ticket price for students who don’t attend this university.
“I thought it was really good; ‘Motorcycle Drive By’ is my favorite Third Eye Blind song,” said Lamar. “The new stuff is similar to the older stuff. It’s good that they kept to the same sound they’ve always had – it’s what I like.”
Fredianelli played the entire show with a sprained ankle and thumb, injuries he said he suffered while rollerblading.
Jenkins brought up the injuries while introducing a solo for Fredianelli in the middle of “Jumper.”
Fredianelli was rollerblading in San Diego and “an old crazy stoner on a bicycle crashes into him,” Jenkins said. “And even though he cracked his ankle and fractured his thumb and he’s as high as a kite on Advil, he plays on and he plays on and he plays on. Play on Tony.”
Freshman aerospace engineering major Ross Westermeier’s only complaint was that the show had to end.
“I think it was awesome. I just wanted them to play a few more,” Westermeier said. “‘Jumper’ is one of my favorites. I can’t wait until [the band’s new album] comes out.”
