This past Monday, Charlotte music fans took part in the annual tradition of local radio station 106.5 The End’s Not So Acoustic Christmas show. This year’s show was the 21st edition of the concert that benefits Kids First of the Carolinas and took place at The Fillmore with a sold out crowd packing the venue. Organizers of the event pulled out all the stops and landed rockers Third Eye Blind to headline the show. There were other activities as well with fans given the opportunity to get their ugly Christmas card photos taken and even Santa made an appearance.
The main attraction, of course, was the music and the audience was eager for the evening to get started. Opening their set with “Rites of Passage,” Third Eye Blind came out to a darkened stage with two risers in the back on each side of the stage for drummer Brad Hargreaves and keyboardist Alex Kopp with guitarist Kryz Reid and bassist Alex LeCavalier taking their spots behind their microphones in the front. Frontman and founding member Stephan Jenkins was a mysterious figure in black with his hood up hiding his face and staying towards the back as he worked the crowd into a frenzy. By the third song, the light show began in earnest with a series of strobes as Jenkins made his way to the front for “Graduate.” Although the band line up has changed somewhat over the years, the band was tight with Jenkins sounding in top form. The setlist was heavy with songs from their latest EP “We Are Drugs,” presenting five new songs which fit right in with the classics from their 1997 self-titled debut album. It had been awhile since I had seen the band perform live and they really put on a stellar performance, including a cover of Beyonce’s “Mine.”
One of the highlights of the evening had Jenkins out front with his acoustic guitar for an audience sing along of the very real and meaningful lyrics during “Jumper” which made for a poignant and touching moment in the show. “Semi-Charmed Life” brought the energy level to extreme heights as Stefan donned a tophat for the crowd favorite and set closer. The audience was pumped and clearly did not want the evening to come to and end and Third Eye Blind willingly obliged and returned for a four song encore which included one of their biggest hits “How’s It Going To Be” and left both the band and the audience drained.
It was a great night of music for a great cause and I hope to see this Charlotte holiday tradition continue for many years to come. If we’re lucky, Third Eye Blind will return to blow the roof off The Fillmore again next year. As the crowd filed out, it was easy to say that this year’s Not So Acoustic Christmas show was a huge success.
Third Eye Blind Set List:
Rites of Passage
Never Let You Go
Graduate
Company of Strangers
Don’t Give In
Sherri Is a Stoner
Queen of Daydreams
Isn’t It Pretty
Mine (Beyonce cover)
Losing a Whole Year
Jumper
Crystal Baller
Semi-Charmed Life
Encore:
Slow Motion
Dopamine
How’s It Going To Be
Bonfire (Reprise)
We would like to thank Missi Callazzo from Megaforce Records for the credentials to review the show.
