Semi-Charmed Life: Third Eye Blind at WayHome 2016!

Nostalgia is a funny thing. Sometimes you experience something now that feels like it should be super important based on the past and it falls flat - and sometimes you get more out of it than you ever expected.

Saturday afternoon at the WayHome main stage Third Eye Blind gave us more than we expected in a big way.

Coming off an amazing display in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention we didn't know what kind of mood the band would be in. Oro-Medonte is a long way from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but there was no let down in the energy or passion for the music and message.

Stephan did an amazing job with the crowd, most of whom have been listening to him sing for almost 20 years now, inviting/instructing them to all turn to a stranger and greet each other during a break in Never Let You Go. It was perfectly timed in a song that everyone was singing along to, and it showed the feel and love and vibe and possibility for good at an event like WayHome and what music can bring to us.

Here's the thing, usually we try and get full setlists to share... but we were having a little too much fun singing along and people watching and being sucked into memories to get all of those detailed notes.

What we can tell you is that we got a mix of old hits, new songs from Dopamine and all of the years in between. We heard Wounded, Motorcycle Drive By, Rite Of Passage, Dopamine, Say It, and How's It Gonna Be... but the two moments that I didn't expect came during Jumper and Semi-Charmed Life.

I love the moments in live music that give me goosebumps. It's a great show if that happens even once. But Saturday at WayHome I got it twice.

When Jumper played and I was singing along and thousands of other fans were singing along too, I wasn't surprised that I felt a chill and could see the bumps on my skin. That's a huge song, it's an emotional song, and it takes me back. BUT, when Semi-Charmed Life came on and I felt the goosebumps again I was a little surprised. I had just felt them, so why was I feeling them again.

And why was I choking up when I was trying to sing along? Semi-Charmed Life isn't a slow sad track. It isn't a song I listen to in the dark when I'm feeling emotional. Hell, it isn't Jumper. But there I was. In the grass, in a field, full of nostalgia and memories locked up for nearly two decades trying to get the words out and keep up. It was so unexpected and so perfect.

If there are bullet point takeaways from Third Eye Blind at WayHome... here they are!

◦ Stephan is still having a lot of fun up on stage.
◦ The band sounds great live
◦ People love an act that they remember
◦ The hot sun won't kill that kind of vibe
◦ I had no idea how badly I wanted to hear all of these songs live