BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Most Musikfest headliners use their stage time to give fans what they want — a run through their greatest hits.
On Friday, late-1990s alternative rockers Third Eye Blind delivered that and offered up some surprise news for fans — new music is on the way.
"We're not on tour this summer," band frontman Stephan Jenkins said on the main Steel Stage. "We're just popping in and out while I try to finish the lyrics to a new album."
It will mark the band's eighth album and the first since “Our Bande Apart" was released in 2021.
The band, which formed in 1993 in San Francisco, performed a swoon-worthy “Like a Lullaby,” which was released in March.
"To be here like this and to have all you show up, it's a truly ecstatic feeling that I have in my heart right now," Jenkins said.
Jenkins and the rest of Third Eye Blind — original drummer Brad Hargreaves, guitarist Kryz Reid, bassist Alex LeCavalier, and keyboardist Colin Creev — had plenty of heart during their 90-minute set.
"This is feeling proper tonight, this is how I want to feel," Jenkins said.
Cheeky banter, sing-alongs
The almost sold-out crowd in the 6,500-seat capacity Steel Stage was treated to a set packed with favorites and cheeky moments.
“When I write songs, I always picture where they’ll be sung,” Jenkins said. “For this one, I imagined a pub full of people who don’t know the words.”
Then he invited the crowd to join in on the chorus of 2015’s “Shipboard Cook.”
"You're going to play the part of everybody in the pub, and I'm going to play the part of the mate who got dumped," he said.
They obliged, spoken like a chorus to the verse.
The back half of the set dove into Third Eye Blind’s self-titled debut, now 28 years old.
That record, beneath its alt-rock hits, tackled darker themes — mental health, self-harm and unrequited love.
Jenkins flaunted his recognizable raspy voice and dedicated “Motorcycle Drive By” to someone facing “a long road ahead” and delivered “Jumper,” written for their friend Eric Godtland, who died by suicide.
'Semi-Charmed Life'
And sure, the band's biggest hit — 1997's four-times-platinum “Semi-Charmed Life” — is upbeat and catchy, but it tackles another serious issue: substance abuse.
A sample of “Semi-Charmed Life” appears on another rocker, Machine Gun Kelly’s “Starman.”
That version garnered the attention of a younger fan base because of Kelly’s defense of the '90s rockers.
This week, Kelly called Jenkins a “modern-day poet” and said the band had “a huge impact” on him growing up.
Kelly’s thoughts to the haters was clearly shared by fans Friday.
In the end, despite the darker themes and dimly lit stage, Third Eye Blind left the crowd uplifted — just as Jenkins encouraged.
“Everybody say hello to somebody you don’t know, put your arm around somebody, and sing with me,” Jenkins said during "Semi-Charmed Life."
“Check in with each other.”
