Third Eye Blind, along with Yellowcard and A R I Z O N A, performed at the PNC Bank Arts Center on Sunday as part of the fourth Summer Gods Tour.
The show began with A R I Z O N A, who despite their name, is from New Jersey. The band has hints of a Bleachers-like sound, but it’s pretty unique to their own band. Since 2015, they’ve been together and doing shows.
Zachary Charles, lead singer, commented before their set began, explaining how this show was special as his first ever attended show was at the PNC Bank Arts Center.
The four-piece group went on to perform for forty minutes, getting many in the crowd excited for the show.
Yellowcard came on next, who performed their reunion tour in 2023 with a stop in Asbury Park, and performed an hour on their biggest tour yet.
The band played mostly deep cuts rather than their biggest hits, which is not the norm for an opening slot.
Lead singer Ryan Key went on to thank the crowd for allowing them to have a little fun with the setlist. It consisted of hits like ‘Lights and Sounds’ and ‘Ocean Avenue,’ which had the crowd getting loud, but also had deep cuts like ‘Transmission Home.’
The production was pretty high for an opener as well, with video screens and good lighting. The sound struggled at the beginning of the set but ended up being good at the end.
The band played in a slot that has been filled by many great bands in the past on tour, including Taking Back Sunday in 2022, Jimmy Eat World in 2019, and Silversun Pickups in 2017.
After only about half an hour, Third Eye Blind took the stage to one of the last songs on their first, self-titled record. ‘Motorcycle Drive By’ started acoustically and then kicked into the song as many know, which set the tone for the entire rest of the night.
Early in the show, the band played hits like ‘Never Let You Go’ and ‘Narcolepsy,’ plus a couple of medleys of their songs. The show flowed very nicely, almost like a jam band would, with many tags of other songs, as well as their own, which made it all seem like one big song.
After ‘Shipboard Cook,’ the band all got close together on a couch-like set, performing songs like they were around a campfire. The lighting didn’t change for these three songs, so it was just the music, which was a nice touch.
After the acoustic session and bantering by Stephan Jenkins, the band went into their biggest hit, ‘Jumper,’ which was followed by a lengthy drum solo by the drummer as the rest of the band left the stage. The solo was separated into multiple parts, including one with a few backing tracks and laser pyro, which felt like an EDM set for a second.
The rest of the band came back for ‘Semi-Charmed Life,’ which of course, got the crowd riled up for the end. The band then left the stage, but came back for ‘How It’s Going To Be.’
The show, the fourth of four straight nights, ended up being nearly two hours long, concluding at around 11:00 pm. The band confirms that they’d love to come back to the PNC Bank Arts Center soon, and that they are working on a new album, which was supposed to be done before the tour.
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