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As the sun is beginning to set on the Milwaukee summer, it also marked the end of this year’s Potawatomi Amplified concert series, as alt-rock icons Third Eye Blind closed out their inaugural run of outdoor shows. With perfect conditions for an outdoor show, the band ended things with a bang on Saturday night at the temporary festival-style setup just west of the casino and hotel.
For a one-off show like Saturday’s Milwaukee appearance, it would be easy for the band to simply play the hits and call it a night. However, the band picked up right where they left off on their recently wrapped “Summer Gods 2024” tour, walking calmly onstage before launching into “Motorcycle Drive By” from their 1997 debut. Frontman Stephen Jenkins would later tell the crowd that the band hadn’t played together in a month since the tour ended, but you otherwise wouldn’t have noticed, with the group seemingly still continuing to hit their stride.
In fact, it was a stride that only seemed to pick up over the course of a roughly 80-minute main set, without a live opener. Early on, there was room to play beyond the boundaries of their recorded material, with the band taking “Dust Storm” for a bit of a walk before morphing that into an interpolation of “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure. That would lead into 1999 single “Never Let You Go,” the first elevated crowd reaction of the night. The band threw in another curveball early, with a cover of TV On The Radio’s “Wolf Like Me” that was delivered with pace and precision. If you thought that the night was going to simply lean on ‘90s throwbacks, you’d be mistaken.
That being said, the material from the band’s debut still played best to the Potawatomi Amplified crowd, with fan favorite “Graduate” garnering another big response. They would, however, find ways to spice up some of their later work, jumping from album to album in a blend of “Weightless,” “Faster,” and “Water Landing” that would touch on different eras of the band in a way that didn’t feel forced. It would all gradually build to a back-to-back finale of “Jumper” and “Semi-Charmed Life” that had the crowd on their feet and moving. There was a bit of awkwardness to put things to an absolute close, though, as the house lights came up when the band called it a night for the first time after the main set closer. About 20 seconds of Hall And Oates’ “Private Eyes” over the PA abruptly came to an end, when the band walked back out on stage for an encore of “How’s It Going To Be.” A small snafu, but an excusable one as the night closed out.
For the most part, the band looked to fill much of their time on stage with the most music, keeping things fairly straight-laced. Towards the back half of the set, though, Jenkins would get a bit more transparent with the crowd. He divulged that the band finished their tour at the beginning of August, and then he disappeared to Bali for two weeks. After that, he’d gone to “trip his tits off” at Burning Man, and then made his way straight to Milwaukee from there. He also informed the crowd that he was actually born in Milwaukee, and lived here for the first few years of his life, and still feels a connection to the city whenever he comes back. There was certainly plenty of humble, Midwestern charm on Saturday night whenever he addressed the crowd.
Jenkins would also let Milwaukee know that he hasn’t finished the words yet for a new Third Eye Blind record, but there’s a new one on the way, and the band will be back with new material soon. Judging by the response of the Potawatomi Amplified crowd on Saturday, the band will have plenty of support the next time they return, in fine form as always.
For even more music in Milwaukee, be sure to check out OnMilwaukee's monthly concert guide to keep up to date with who's playing local stages this month.
