Third Eye Blind brings ‘90s alt-rock to new Kansas City fans

Free cold towels and disposable fans were put to work in the sweating crowd, but the sizzling summer weather was welcomed by San Francisco-based ‘90s alternative rock band Third Eye Blind.

The crowd at Sporting Park were the ones getting the sunburn Saturday evening instead of lead singer of lead singer Stephen Jenkins — good thing that girl he sings about in “Never Let You Go” wasn’t in attendance.

Though dressed in black jeans and a cutoff flannel, Jenkins pronounced that it’s a welcome change from his cloudy hometown — “I’m just down here to catch some summer vibes.”

Third Eye Blind took to Sporting Plaza following a World Cup watch party at Sporting Park to deliver a ‘90s-infused, hour-and-15-minute set meant to be an avenue into the band for new listeners. The band is best known for their self-titled debut album from 1997 containing hits “Semi-Charmed Life” and “Jumper.” The album shot to fame, peaking at No. 25 in the US Billboard 200 and eventually going six-times platinum.

The band is known for their upbeat and catchy alt-rock instrumentals paired with lyrics with dark themes, cynicism and personal introspection.

Mother-daughter duo Marissa Miller and Madison Brumley came to Sporting Plaza just for the band. Both have seen the band live before, but Miller subtly flexed one of their band tees from the era of their first album. Their favorite part of the band is those lyrics that say exactly what Jenkins means.

“I think they’re really good with keeping trendy music, but the lyrics are deeper than the trendiness of the music. You know, even with the newer stuff, I still think the lyrics hit deeper for me than just the sound of their music,” Brumley said.

Miller added, “And that’s why they’ve been able to hold it for so long.”

For example, the band finished the show at 13 songs but was called back out for an encore after the crowd chanted “one more song” over and over. Jenkins warned the crowd that the song he would play may not be “appropriate” for a sports event, but delivered the beginning-acoustic, raw song “Slow Motion,” singing in unison with the crowd that chose to stick around,

“See my neighbor’s beating his wife,

Because he hates his life,

There’s an arc to his fist as he swings,

Oh man, what a beautiful thing.”

One by one, band members reappeared to join in the intimate music unison.

A set for the longtime fans and new ones alike

Third Eye Blind knew the kind of venue they were playing. In the crowd, there was an equal mix of families with young kids who came for the family-friendly watch party and an age-diverse group of punk, alternative rockers. Jenkins asked after song 10 for the first-time Third Eye Blind concertgoers to raise their hands. After at least half of the crowd responded, confirming his suspicion, he told them that he made the set list specifically to introduce a new crowd to the band’s “vibe.”

But even people like Nicole Lewis, who came as a relative newbie with veteran Truman Wachter, realized they knew more songs than they thought.

“As they played more songs, I was like, ‘Oh, I know this song. I just didn’t know I knew that song,’” Lewis said.

Some fans like Miller and Brumley thought the circumstances of the free show made sense for the band, as a way to keep relevancy and a returning cycle of fans discovering their music. Others thought the concert’s association with soccer was strange.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t take them as like big appealing towards like sports fans,” said Aubri Rice, a fan since middle school.

Rice’s partner, Miles Cloud, added, “I feel like soccer, with the World Cup going, everything’s just so big right now. I feel it’s just a good opportunity to have a big audience and people that love them and people that haven’t met them.”

The band gladly covered their main hits, which nearly the whole crowd knew. Jenkins invited the crowd to sing along for their 11th song. “Jumper” began in iconic fashion with its first line, “I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend,” and from there, the crowd took over.

Despite the crowd and venue size being fairly small in comparison to even other World Cup-related concerts in Kansas City this summer, the fans could carry an entire chorus alone. During the song’s guitar solo, Jenkins started the crowd in a clap. The repeated claps alone, no drums, carried the beat for the rest of the solo.

By age 3, Miller ensured Brumley knew the lyrics to crowd-favorite and final pre-encore song, “Semi-Charmed Life.” And Brumley sure wasn’t the only one to know them.

The opening guitar riff clued the crowd in immediately. Everyone, 5 to 50 years old, erupted and threw their phones up. It seemed the band knew that they didn’t have to make the performance flashy or overly produced, or even high-energy. The crowd would deliver the energy themselves.

The fans hit each high note concluding each chorus, sticking their pointer fingers up as if trying to physically reach the top of their vocal range, giving Jenkins a vocal break after a whole set’s worth of screams and high-register notes. With instrumentals alone, the crowd sang the whole bridge and ended perfectly in time with the real song. As if bidding them a slightly premature farewell, given the encore, the crowd sang “goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.”

Jenkins announced that he was going to make a memory for the crowd, asking them to wrap their arms around each other. Groups that came together linked shoulder-to-shoulder with others, and the whole venue swayed through the end of the song.

Connections, pleasantries and Kansas City Nice

The entire concert was characterized by a positive, friendly and mannered vibe. The tone was set from song one, a song that Miller predicted they’d play after seeing them live five times over the years.

“In concerts past, they come out with ‘Thanks a Lot,’ and that’s just their way of telling everybody, ‘Hey, we love you guys,’” Miller said.

Jenkins made sure to repeatedly thank the crowd for “sticking around” and “loving us.”

Early in the set, Jenkins told the crowd to turn behind them and meet someone they’ve never met before. The band continued in the song “Narcolepsy” as instrumental backing music for the mass greeting. From there, the crowd rolled with it. In the heat, people who’d never met prior fanned each other to stay cool. Fans revisited swaying together in the second and final song of the encore, “How It’s Going To Be.” This time without Jenkins’ guidance, groups of friends joined in a slow, soft send-off to the band. Like directing a choir, Jenkins marked his hands in time for the crowd to finish out the concert.

When he found out that there were plenty of Third Eye Blind newcomers, Jenkins said, “Now you’re a part of it, you’ll always be a part of it.”

Third Eye Blind’s set list

Main Set:

• “Thanks a Lot”
• “Dust Storm”
• “Never Let You Go”
• “Narcolepsy”
• “Faster”
• “The Kids Are Coming”
• “Graduate”
• “Crystal Baller”
• “Losing a Whole Year”
• “Motorcycle Drive By”
• “Jumper”
• “Heroes” cover by David Bowie
• “Semi-Charmed Life”

Encore:

• “Slow Motion”
• “How It’s Going To Be”

This story was originally published July 19, 2026 at 8:49 AM.

Sophie Lindberg

The Kansas City Star

Kansas City native Sophie Lindberg is studying journalism as a Don Ranly Scholarship recipient at Mizzou’s journalism school. Experimenting with a variety of topics and storytelling mediums allows her to service Kansas Citians as she tackles everything from food to concerts to the World Cup.