Blue October Show Reviews

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Lawerence Review By: Keiv

What started as a nice yet cold day turned to a raging snow storm around 4pm. Earlier in the day I had walked around downtown and welcomed Jeremy Furstenfeld and Ryan Delahoussay to Lawrence and saw no indications that inclement weather was headed our way.

The sad thing is that the storm kept many out-of-town ticketholders away, whilst in-town fans able to brave the weather, were left ticketless. The turnout was strong none-the-less.

Waited in line with friends Paul and Juliet for no more than fifteen minutes in the snow storm and scored a front-row position. Later were joined by more friends: Mark, Mandy, Laney, Emery, and many others. This was Juliet and Mark’s first show. Emery had seen the band perform a few songs at the Jimmy Kimmel show. Paul, Laney and Mandy have been to several shows with me.

Damnwells played damn well. The lead guitarist was the definition of cool. We had speculated that the singer (Alex) and the lead guitarist (David) might be brothers. Juliet thought their chins looked the same. Turns out they’re not brothers. Ted, the bassist, had a head of big fuzzy hair. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed, as one side of his hair was frizzed out, whilst the opposite side was flat. Their set was quite enjoyable, and the crowd appeared pleased.

Blue October’s set began with Ryan solo. He emerged in the dark and began playing violin, it sounded like an orchestra warming up. Instantly I knew this would be a special night. After a minute of overture, Ryan was joined by Matt who began thumping out the intro vamp for You Make Me Smile. The rest of the guys took to their stations, C.B. tore into the hook and the crowd gleefully lept as if we were marionettes attached to and lifted by C.B.’s strumming. During the lyric “catching your eye” I caught Justin’s eye and he pointed and winked at me, having not seen me until then. He held the microphone out for the crowd to sing the “Like Children to the Playground” bit.

Independently Happy got everyone bouncing. Justin’s voice had improved much since the night prior, with no indications of hoarseness. There was much commentary during the night, beginning with Justin telling us jokingly that they had just toured through Canada, Chicago, Michigan, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Madison and that when they planned their tour route, they assumed once they reached Kansas the weather would be warmer. As the frigid storm raged outside, He thanked the crowd for braving the weather and said that we all have issues we have to deal with while growing up, and that by being here tonight it proves that we get it, and it makes him feel less alone.

She’s My Ride Home was amazing, Emery was blown away. HRSA was Mandy’s favorite song. Calling you was next, and I had been singing every word to every song. I usually don’t like Calling You, but tonight I sang along. The previous night I barely sang along to anything.

I think it was during Clumsy Cardhouse, Justin played guitar at the end at the edge of the stage gestured for C.B. to move up there with him. They leaned against each other and rocked out to close the song.

Justin dedicated Blue Sunshine to his uncle. What a beautiful song this is….it is the sound of pulling heaven down.

I have never been a fan of Everlasting Friend, but this night I actually listened to the lyrics and have a new appreciation for the song. It is an extremely well-written song. Justin dedicated the song to the bands friends and family back home that they miss.

Justin told the story of Into the Ocean. A man who had been sad for a very long time buys a ticket for a cruise. While on the cruise in the middle of the night, he takes off his shoes, leaves his room, goes up to the bow and jumps off. As soon as he hits the water he realizes all the things he has to live for, but now his boat is long gone and he’s in the middle of the ocean and he’s screwed. He has to make it back to shore by himself. Justin said that he’s felt like the guy in the song sometimes, and that maybe there’s people in the audience who feel like that too. You’ve got to find something every day to hold on to. And today the thing that he’s holding on to is us.

As the song ended, Justin sang “goodbye….goodbye” along with the crowd. The band put down their instruments and waved goodbye. I think Emery thought the show was over and he kept shouting “NO! NO! NO!” J

Ryan came out and played PRN. It was the best version I’ve ever heard. He played the teaser bit, and used his bow to tap people on the head in the front row. As per usual, he yelled “COME ON!” prior to playing a the particularly ferocious bit, but then he came to the other side of the stage and looked at the crowd and yelled “LETS GO!” and played and even more ferocious bit. Needless to say everyone was blown away.

I was extremely please to hear Overweight, of course Justin pointed to Jeremy during the appropriate moment. Justin’s voice was becoming hoarse during the latter half of the show, but he still gave it everything he had.

Again, X-Amount of words was incredible and featured a bass solo, and guitar solos by Justin and C.B., with C.B.’s closing solo being extended even longer than usual. It was so nice to have friends to dance with at the show.

Hate Me closed the show, with Justin asking anyone who’s been hurt or done the hurting to sing along at the end.

Emery took several photos with his phone. I’ll post those. I didn’t record the Lawrence show, but I did record the Columbia show and it turned out great. If you want a copy, send me an email at keiv@keivspare.com

Columbia Review by: Keiv

Arrived late and only caught the last song of the Damnwells set – sounded good, looking forward to seeing them tomorrow in Lawrence.

Didn’t get to talk to the guys, (or anyone else for that matter) as my experience was a quick in-and-out affair. Tomorrow shall be differet, it will be Blue October day.

Blue Note is an old theatre with good character and acoustics. I take my seat in the balcony.

Lights go down and the opening bass chords of You Make Me Smile are heard. With the lights still out, Matt walks out on stage by himself, playing the vamp solo on his bass, the fretboard of which is lit by tiny red lights which make it look like an airport runway. The rest of the guys join, and the set progresses with some of my favorite songs, without any pause.

In fact, the only pause of the night was when Justin (in a hoarse voice) commented that the last time they played the Blue Note was with Pat Green. There wasn’t even a crowd-sung intro to Razorblade.

Great to see Justin on his feet and playing guitar again. This was the first show I’ve seen since the video for Into the Ocean has come out – very cool to see them play it live while visualising the video.

C.B. has a flying V guitar. is this new? I don’t recal seeing it before. I think he only used it for one song – Razorblade, I think.

Highlight of the night for me was X-Amount of words, which featured a slap bass solo, then a guitar solo by Justin, which was then joined by C.B., followed by a piano solo by Ryan, and the the majority of the extra verses, followed by another C.B. guitar solo to close the song.

Hate Me was the last song, and was a huge sing along. The crowd was louder than the band.

I recorded the show, but wont know how it turned out until Sunday.

that’s all. be well y’all.

River Riot Review by: Keiv

River Riot – Westfair Amphitheater, Iowa
July 30, 2006

Set List:

01 You Make Me Smile
02 HRSA
03 Calling You
04 What if We Could
05 Drilled a Wire Through My Cheek
06 Razorblade
07 X-Amount of Words
08 Hate Me

Official weather report: Fucking hot as hell. It was so hot, the asphalt on the roads had liquified (literally)

The venue is located in the middle of nowhere, among the cornfields and foothills of Iowa. I drove down winding gravel roads past farms to arrive at the concert. I showed up around 3pm. There were a few clouds in the sky, and every time a cloud came over the amphitheater, the crowd would cheer. By the time Blue October took the stage, there were no clouds in the sky, and no shade to be found. I’d estimate the size of the crowd at between 5,000 and 10,000 people.

The legendary Reggae band The Wailers played just prior to Blue October. They’re essentially a Bob Marley cover band, but their renditions of the songs are more true to the originals than any other band could do. They played classic Marely tues such as One Love, Three Little Birds, Get Up Stand Up, and Jammin. The crowd had a great time jammin’ with the Wailers.

The security guards along the stage would spray the crowd with a water hose from time to time and use the hose to fill water bottles for the fans. You could buy a bottle of water for $2,and then get free refills, but the line to get refills was ridiculous. Nearly everyone in the crowd was shirtless or wearing a bikini. I saw one guy wearing a bikini top and a grass skirt.

When I arrived at the venue, I found Justin standing (without crutches) and talking on his phone. I got to talk to Matt a little bit. He told me Justin gets better each day, and would try to move around more on stage today. They’re having a great time touring.

Blue October took the stage around 5:30pm, and the sun was high in the sky and beating down on the crowd. I didn’t think Justin would wear his suit because of the heat, but sure enough he did. Ryan was dressed in all black, and Julian was wearing a tuxedo vest and tie and jeans. C.B. had on a t-shirt and jeans. Matt and Jeremy wore t-shirts and shorts.

Justin came out on crutches, but only used them for about three seconds. While the band was tuning up, he sat on his stool and got the crowd pumped with a call-and response roar and growl.

As the first song started, there was a problem with the sound. We couldn’t hear Justin. This was fixed right away, and You Make Me Smile was an excellent opening song to the set.

Justin tried to move around the stage, using his mic stand as a cane, but it was obvious he was in pain and wouldn’t be able to move around. Lisa and some family were on the side of the stage, and Justin loooked at her and just shook his head, as if to signal “nope, not today, but I tried.” Lisa’s nephew had a big yellow sign that said “THAT’S MY UNCLE JUSTIN” As soon as You Make Me Smile began, the crowd surfing began.

HRSA started with Justin seated on the stool. The crowd was really getting into it, lots of crowd surfing. Alski was taking pictures of the crowd from the stage. I’ve never seen a crowd this rowdy at a Blue October show. I started out in the front row, but quickly had to get out, as people were crowd surfing over me, and the security guards were blasting me with the (freezing cold) water hose. It was insane! I moved to the side of the stage where Alski and Lisa and her family were, and observed the rest of the set from a much safer location (just out of range of the water hose).

Calling You excited the crowd even further. Justin kept looking at Lisa throughout the show, it’s obvious this boy’s in love

Justin introduced What if We Could as being written about when the band was touring through this area about five years ago when he met the woman who is now his wife. Again he kept looking in her direction throughout the song. The song got very heavy, and the crowd responded with even more surfing.

Drilled a Wire was dedicated to all the fans from Omaha who have supported the band over the years. The words in the song have changed from “Drilled a Wire Through it” to “I Wanna Feel it” (these may have been the words all along, but it’s the first time I’ve noticed). By now the crowd is in a frenzy.

Justin stood up to sing the introductory words to Razorblade. Surprisingly the crowd did not sing along. Justin tried to walk around a bit, but stayed pretty close to his stool.

High Strung Say X Amount of Words (we knew this song would be played, as the backing track was soundchecked). An extrmely high energy song with the entire crowd clapping along and Ryan playing tambourine and dancing.

Last song of the set, Hate Me. So much crowd surfing during this song, it was like an ocean of people surging forward in tidal waves – a waterfall of people pouring over the barrior. I’ve never seen anything like it – and I’ve been to a lot of wild concerts. Several people had to be carried out of the crowd and looked like they were having trouble breathing or were suffering from heat stroke. The secruity guards really had their hands full.

It was a short but intense set.

It is worth mentioning that there was a signing booth at the venue where bands sold and autographed CDs. The booth sold all of their Blue October CDs, and several fans were dissapointed that Blue October did not show up to sign them. There was a long line of people, and it had been advertised througout the day that the band would do a signing. This was obviously a simple miscommunication, but it left some fans with the impression that maybe the band didn’t care. I think the situation was poorly handled/explained by the staff at the booth. They basically said “We’re sorry, there’s nothing we can do about it. If you’re pissed off, just go to Blue October’s website and complain about it.”

It’s always fun to see Blue October in concert, but the venue and the atmosphere was uncomfortable for me. I’d rather see them in a more intimate setting with a longer set. I’m very much looking forward to the Chicago club show next Thursday. The weather forecast for Lollapalooza looks beautiful too (high of 83, low of 65, partly cloudy all weekend)

Kansas City Show Review by: Keiv

Here’s a quick review of the show:

Bril is fantastic. People in Planes was good, but I think I’ll have to see them a couple more times to get into them.

A large crowd, but not so large that it’s uncomfortable. Lots of familiar faces, lots of beautiful women.

Blue October begins with H.R.S.A. then Calling You. Justin asks if we’re all right. A loud collective cheer responds.

You Make Me Smile has a new guitar intro.

Justin jokes about how the album has been delayed. “It’ll be out this week. I mean next week. I mean the week after next. Fuck it, just release the damn thing!” He thanks a few people for their continuing support of the band, including Charlie Maize and the Buzz radio station.

What if We Could beings with a very cool violin intro. It’s much more upbeat than the 5591 version. Even as I type this, the new version is playing my head. The violin in this song is amazing. A great sing-along song for me. I expect it to be a stand-out on the album.

Justin says this next song has been souped-up a little. A hip-hop beat, a cool keyboard intro and it’s Sound of Pulling Heaven Down.

Everlasting Friend is next. I don’t really remember this song, but it is a slow song with piano, and no violin. The last line in the song was a cappella “I just wanna know when you’ll be coming home”

Justin took a cruise once upon a time and he was stuck with the people there, couldn’t go anywhere, and he was sitting looking at the water, thinking about what it would be like to jump off the boat; Thinking about jumping made him realize what he lives for…he wrote the next song, Into the Ocean. I heard this song on the album, it’s upbeat and quite danceable. Snippit of the lyrics I remember: “I want to swim away. I don’t know how….hurricane. Let the rain come down” This song features violin and also scratchy muted guitar.

By the way, C.B. kicks ass – especially on the new songs.

Uglyside, Balance Beam, Innerglow, then Drilled a Wire Through My Cheek. Drilled a Wire is almost scary. Very aggressive high-energy.

It was really cool to see the evolution of many of the new songs from the first time I heard them as poems or acoustic 5591 songs, and now they’re no longer skeletons, but have flesh and blood and a more multi-dimensional sounds.

Razorblade, Hate Me, Come in Closer, and Thank You Kansas City!

The encore begins with 18th Floor balcony, which featured several couples slow dancing in the audience.

Another former-5591 song Weight of Another aka Overweight, which was completely different sounding than the 5591 version. This new full-band version is happy sounding, unlike the 5591 version which was a touching life-affirming poem that Justin read through tears and had the whole audience crying with him. This time we’re dancing and happily singing along. The last lyrics I remember “floating far away, let me go”

The end.

Anyone who saw me Friday night knows full well that I was very very very drunk. Not sick stupid drunk, but happy talkative excited drunk. Hopefully I didn’t say anything too stupid to anyone. I remember talking to many people and rambling on and on about how I awesome I thought they all were. The most foolish example was when I was talking to the guys from Bril and Dale Brock (not knowing who he was at the moment). I had been talking to Dale for about 15 minutes and then I told him that he reminded me of this guy Dale Brock who used to be one of Blue October’s managers. All the other guys start laughing. “What’s so funny?” That is Dale Brock, you idiot. In my defense, he has changed his hairstyle since the last time I saw him.

Special thanks to: Charlie and Kim for letting me hang out with them and sleep in their RV. Alski and Chad for being so cool and for putting up with me when I’m drunk. To Bob and Shannon for the drinks and conversation. Especially to Blue October for being the best band of their generation.

Can’t wait to see all you crazy kids in Des Moines and Omaha.

April 5th, 2007

20070401 @ The Fillmore in San Francisco, CA

We got there a little bit earlier than 7. The door opened at 7 and there were already quite a lot people in line. But fortunately we were able to make it to the 4th row. The Fillmore is a place of stories and history. The yellow dim light, people chatting, photos on the wall and a basket of apples… I walked into the Fillmore, I walked into the time stream of the happenings of great music.

I still haven’t found out the name of the opening band. They were okay. But the kid (the guitarist) was quite impressive. I guess he’s around half of my age. Well, I’m exaggerating. But he for sure is under 18. As people around and under my age are accomplishing something grand, I can’t help but… nah, nevermind.

And then they left, and the crew came on stage and changed set. There were about 7 of them and that was the fastest set changing I’ve ever seen. Either they (Blue October) wanted to go home early, or they (the crew) are used to do things efficiently. Few more points to team Blue October!

And then Ryan, CBH, Jeremy and Matt showed up on stage and the crowd shouted and clapped, but didn’t persist. When Justin walked out, the noise re-emerged, which was so inappropriate. It shouldn’t have stopped in the first place. For me, it’s an indication of lack of true passion for rock.

Honestly, I like the 3EB crowd better and Cake’s and Hoobastank’s.

I’d say it’s a down side of having one or two super successful hit songs (In this case, Hate Me and Into the Ocean.) Concert goers would consist of not only hardcore fans but a number of people who only listens to radio hits and come only for radio hits. It requires real passion to get a concert going. I mean a GOOD concert which will remain in your heart for a long time, not just any mediocre concert. And please note that passion does not equal to drunk crazy chicks yelling and swinging at people around.

Ryan had a beautiful solo before everything started. Following was the other intruments and Justin joined with “there’s some kind of light… at the end when touching the edge of her skin.” It was so right. I thought. You Make Me Smile is the first song in Foiled. Every time I put it into the player, I hear the same few notes and that line and the feast of Blue October follows. I held onto my necklace while another hand raising up in the air. It was like a realization of a dream. A dream you ruminate over and over. The songs I listen to everyday, in my car, in my room were living and dancing and rejoicing in the same room with me, in front of me, 2 meters away.

there’s some kind of light… at the end when touching the edge of her skin.

I didn’t recognize the second and forth songs and they’re proved to be from the first and second albums. They sang mostly songs in Foiled and some in History for Sale. I’ve been cramming myself with Inner Glow lyrics for the past 2 days cos I love that song so much and I wanted to be able to sing along when they perform it. And they didn’t perform Calling You as I expected (or I should say, as I wanted them to, during encore and acoustically.) I guess they needed a highlight in every part of the show. But for me, every song was the highlight of the show. Every first note of every song, I went “Oh I love this song!”

Justin’s face was covered with sweat by the end of the second song and his jacket remained on through the entire show. We don’t know how he endured it. Justin spilled bottle water on us when singing “so drill it, so drill it, so hard I feel it.” and he threw away the picks into the crowd very often and once it landed on my head but I was checking my camera so when I realized it, it was picked up by someone else, darn.

Half way through the show, they torn down Blue October/Flame thing and revealed another painting by Justin. (Seriously! Justin paints.)

When I looked at Justin, I couldn’t help but wondering what he had been through. When Hate Me first came out, it hit me so hard cos I can hear the pain, accusasion, struggle and residual hatred. It was real and you can still see the cuts. Great art works often come from tortured souls. When you sing along “hate me today, hate me tomorrow” (and smiling!), did you feel the pain?

The concert was great. My heart was filled with… I don’t know, something good, the entire time. It seemed so short but I guess it’s because I just went to a 27-song concert 2 weeks ago. Every show would seem short. Oh, there was something really annoying. A guy kept booing from the opening band to Blue October. I don’t think he’s really booing. Someone suspecting he was cheering BLUE, which was a valid arguement cos I don’t see why a person would pay 30 something box just to boo somebody. However, it was very irritating to hear something similar to BOO~~ When Justin came out again for encore, the band played 18th Floor Balcony, a beautiful ballad. The crowd quiet down and started to swing and that moron BLUE again. Justin looked pissed and flipped him off, said “if you wanted to boo you can get the f*ck out.” and I clapped so hard.

I saw a 5591 T-shirt and didn’t know what it means. It turns out to be the patient number assigned to Justin while he was in a treatment center. I should have got one.

Set List:
You Make Me Smile
Independantly Happy
She’s My Ride Home
HRSA
Calling You
What if We Could
Clumsy Card House
Let it Go
Quiet Mind
Drilled a Wire
Razorblade
Everlasting Friend
Come in Closer
Into the Ocean

Encore
18th Floor Balcony
Overweight
X-Amount of Words
Hate Me