Thanks to alt-rock radio hits like “Semi-Charmed Life,” “Jumper” and “How’s It Going to Be,” Third Eye Blind will always be a staple of ’90s compilations and period-piece soundtracks, but even though the band hasn’t had a major hit in decades, its audience has grown far beyond fans who are nostalgic for their youth. While other ’90s alt-rockers are relegated to throwback package tours, Third Eye Blind is still a headlining draw, enough to score a coveted New Year’s Eve show in Las Vegas.
Even the band’s newer music (2019’s Screamer) is commercially successful and critically acclaimed: Pitchfork called Screamer “a record so improbably infectious that you almost begin to wonder if (they) might score that late-career radio hit after all.”
Frontman Stephan Jenkins has pushed Third Eye Blind to remain ambitious, through changing tastes in popular music. “It’s kind of a mystery to me,” Jenkins told Rolling Stone earlier this year, about the band’s continued popularity. “I think our audience is very young, and they take our music and they make it part of their playlists now. And they make it their present tense.” –Josh Bell
House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, 7 p.m. Dec. 31, starting at $55 plus tax and fee. 702.632.7600
