Not even a tornado watch could keep long lines of 90s kids from forming outside of The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) to bear witness to Third Eye Blind’s Summer Gods tour with Yellowcard and ARIZONA. Fueled by excitement and nostalgia, eager fans filled the stands and faced the stage hanging a banner with the word ARIZONA spelled out in block letters. As the humidity finally broke, the members of ARIZONA took the stage and started the show. The band's 10 song setlist brought back tracks like Nostalgia, Annie, and Freaking out.
Though ARIZONA shared the stage with equipment for the performances to come, you’d never know it. Guitarist Nate Esquite danced around the stage in his bare feet with vocalist Zach Hannah. Keybordest David Labuguen accompanied Esquite and Hannah and joined them center stage on second guitar towards the end of the set.
Anticipation built as ARIZONA finished their set and set up began for a clear fan favorite, Yellowcard. Elder emos cheered as the band took the stage and launched into 2005 hit, Lights and Sounds. "I'm going to guess if there's a lot of '90s kids in the house, we two are 90s kids." said vocalist Ryan Key as the crowd roared. Their setlist was a montage of their original hits through the bands career like Transmission Home, Be The Young, and Only One Following their reunion in 2022 Yellowcard released their EP, Childhood Eyes, and incorporated it in with their setlist much to their long time fans' delight. Yellowcard ended their set with hit and fan favorite Ocean Avenue that had everyone on their feet and singing.
The sky opened up to a light drizzle as Yellowcard finished their set but fans on the lawn were not deterred. Fog rolled onto the stage as spotlights appeared, signaling the start of headliner and 90s favorite Third Eye Blind’s set. In reference to the storm that threatened to delay the show, Vocalist Stephan Jenkins addressed the crowd on the grass at the back of the venue. "Do you know how proud of you I am of all you guys out there on the lawn? You were all like fuck it I'm going to go anyway and I'm out there with you." Screams from the crowd grew as the band members took the stage on a tiered platform and began to play Motorcycle Drive By.” bathed in red and blue light the band took the crowd through a mix of their 90’s hits and beyond. One of the highlights of the band's set was their performance of their major hit Jumper.
From the first few chords fans instantly recognized it and roared with excitement as this was one of the most anticipated songs of the show. Halfway through the set, the band members assembled to the front of the stage for acoustic performances of the next few songs of their set including the tour debut of their track Inside of You. But the crescendo of the night was the beloved song Semi-Charmed Life that, arguably, put Third Eye Blind on the map. It was hard to pick out a person not on their feet as Jenkins stepped away from the microphone multiple times to allow the crowd to carry the song. Ending out the night was an encore of How’s it Gonna Be before the band made their final exit of this stop on, according to Jenkins, "the most attended tour that we've ever put on in third eye blinds whole career."
