Third Eye Blind and Dashboard Confessional rock out at Marymoor Park

Published 10:28 am Friday, July 24, 2015

Wednesday evening was a night of 1990s and 2000s nostalgia as Dashboard Confessional and Third Eye Blind took the stage at Marymoor Park in unincorporated King County near Redmond.

The two bands were the latest installment in the Marymoor Park concert series this summer.

First up, following opener Ex Cops, was Dashboard Confessional.

The band, who are originally from Boca Raton, Fla., performed songs from their various studio albums. From their 2000 debut “The Swiss Army Romance,” to their most recent “Alter The Ending,” which was released in 2009, frontman Chris Carrabba and his fellow bandmates stuck to the crowd pleasers — especially those songs from their early days such as “The Sharp Hint of New Tears,” “The Best Deceptions” and “Saints and Sailors” — that had the crowd singing along.

Whether crooning about betrayals and broken hearts or the rush of falling in love, Dashboard reminded the crowd that it was OK to feel and be emotional. Not surprising as the band was on the forefront of the “emo” movement in the early 2000s that served as the soundtrack to many late Generation Xers’ and early Millennials’ lives.

At one point, he invited his cousin, Shawn Zorn, on stage and the two performed a song by their folk band Twin Forks. Carrabba stuck to the guitar and Zorn banged away on the drum as the crowd clapped along.

Dashboard ended their set with “Hands Down,” a particular fan favorite. Carrabba (below) told the crowd that Wednesday was one of the best days they had ever had — a reference to the song’s lyrics — and if the crowd’s singing along was any indication, they agreed with the sentiment.

If Dashboard had the crowd reminiscing about their early loves and post-adolescent angst, Third Eye Blind got them to rock out.

The San Francisco-based band opened with “Graduate” from their debut, self-titled album. The song set the tone of the band’s set as it got the crowd on their feet.

Third Eye Blind performed other songs from that first album such as “How’s it Going to Be” and “Jumper” as well as numbers from their subsequent releases. In addition, they played songs from their newest album, “Dopamine,” which was released on June 16.

“The idea of this tour is we’re gonna play some old songs and we’re gonna play some new songs,” frontman Stephan Jenkins told the crowd.

He was met with roaring round of applause by excited fans.

They performed “Everything is Easy,” the first single from the new album. During the performance, as well as throughout the entire set, Jenkins’ dancing on stage — which included some impressive somersaulting — kept the energy levels in the audience high. Third Eye Blind also performed “Dopamine,” the title track off the new album.

At one point, all members of the band except for drummer Brad Hargreaves left the stage while Hargreaves performed an impressive solo drum set that included a mini pad, sampling rapper Jay-Z. Not exactly what you’d expect at a rock concert, but Hargreaves’ solo was a great crowd pleaser.

Closing out the night, following the crowd demanding an encore, was “Semi-Charmed Life,” the band’s first hit single from their debut album. Despite the song’s high-tempo lyrics, the crowd sang right along with Jenkins, all the way to their cars.