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Life & Arts

Blue October lets fans down

Technical problems, setlist cripple local band's performance

by KRISTEN YOUNG
The Daily Cougar

Blue October played its first mediocre show ever Thursday. Never before had fans left a venue feeling less than satisfied by the length and content of a performance from these hometown boys.

The set seemed promising when the group opened in classic form with "HRSA" from its second album, Consent to Treatment. Fans who remember the days of paying $12 for a two-and-a-half hour Blue October show exchanged hopeful glances while singing every word. 

But within seconds things took a turn for the worse. No one could hear frontman Justin Furstenfeld sing the first words of that fan favorite. The sound was terrible and no one ever did anything to improve it.

The subtle changes the band made from previous performances add up to one hugely different kind of show. Furstenfeld used to talk to fans. Really, he did. He used to stand on stage and the audience would listen to what were essentially excerpts from his journal.

And for those who wonder how a band like Blue October can have such dedicated fans know that it's because of the monologue Furstenfeld used to recite before every show -- it's because of the way he looked at and sang to everyone with such desperate honesty. But that intimacy is no more and it's not the band's fault. It's the price fans have to pay for sharing the music with so many people.

Sixteen songs later, including one encore, the band left the stage without playing very much of anything before its most recent album, Foiled. No "Italian Radio," no "Independently Happy," no "Breakfast After Ten." Understandably, Blue October has to play up Foiled, but since when does the band play just one encore, especially to what was arguably the biggest hometown crowd it's ever pulled?

In perhaps what was the most intimate part of the performance, Furstenfeld asked the crowd, "Can I lay on top of you, Houston?" And with that he dove into the arms of his fans and crowd surfed. No one ever crowd surfs at Blue October shows -- ever. He seemed elated, almost child-like when he hopped back onto the stage and exclaimed, "I haven't done that since I was 16."

It's hard to not be excited for the band's success, but that fame comes with heavy consequences for long-time fans. To see Furstenfeld happy is at once everything fans ever wanted for him and something they've dreaded. It might mean the end to the deeply emotional performances that hooked the band in the first place.

The musicality of Furstenfeld's vocals was replaced at the show with harsh and heavy tones in songs like "Sound of Pulling Heaven Down" and "Drilled A Wire Through My Cheek." This, paired with the ever-lessening violin presence is a move away from Blue October's sound that set it apart from mass-market bands for so long.

Opening bands People in Planes and Bril pulled a decent crowd and kept the audience's attention, but they can't compare to former tour mates Canvas and Valejo in intensity and heart.

But it's silly to revel in the days of old, when Blue October used to play every weekend in Houston, Austin or San Marcos. The band's hard work is paying off and for better or worse, true fans should support them. Good luck, boys.

Blue October

@ Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel St.

Verdict: Too bad fans left feeling blue.

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