Get Excited for Lou Bega And The Goo Goo Dolls: A Look At The Worst College Spring Concerts

What happens when your band has one or two hits, but not enough talent to really sustain a meaningful and worthwhile musical career? Well, you can either gracefully move on and realize when your time in the limelight is over, or you can painfully drag out the inevitable for another decade or so, until one day you find yourself performing at the Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil, singing songs about teenage angst that you wrote over twenty years ago, and starting to wonder if you have become a parody of yourself. And you probably have.

With college campuses nationwide gearing up for their spring concerts, we decided to take a look at some of the bands that you forgot existed, but will be coming to your campus to sing that one song that you kind of remember! Are you not vaguely excited?

Eve 6

Hot on the heels of their hit “Inside Out”, Eve 6 are back and ready to rock like it’s 1998. Though the band disbanded in 2004, they saw there was a hole in the modern rock landscape that only Eve 6 could fill, which is why they recently announced that they will be putting their side project, “Sugi Tap” (why is it that side projects always have names that are commercially untenable?), on indefinite hiatus and making their triumphant return at Washington St. University.

With a new album in the works and a string of college shows lined up, it’s looking like big things are in store for Eve 6 in 2008. One has to wonder though – will Eve 6 play the fan favorites, or will they opt to “focus on new material” (which inevitably always involves keyboards and/or drum machines)? Will fans still connect with songs like “Here’s to the Night” back like they did in 2001 when it was in regular rotation on countless make-out soundtracks? What will become of former guitarist John Siebels, who opted out of the reunion to focus on his new band, “Monsters are Waiting”?

Will fans accept new guitarist Matt Bair? Are there fans? Or are they through with their rendezvous with Eve 6? (come on, you knew that was coming)

See Eve 6 at:

-Washington St. University

-College of St. Rose

-Siena College

-Hamilton College

-Union College

O.A.R.

Coming soon to Every College Everywhere, it’s that band that sang that one song about poker that you downloaded when everyone was still using Napster. Challenging the limits of relevancy and good taste, O.A.R. is the band you forget anyone likes until they sell out a nearby stadium, and suddenly you find yourself sitting in a parking lot and participating in a drum circle.

O.A.R. play what can best be described as Trustifarian Rock – that southern rock/Jamaican white boy thing that was so popular in the Sublime/DMB/Dispatch era. Their fanbase consists of such a strikingly homogeneous crowd of jocks and sorority chicks that one wonders if there is a genetic predisposition to liking this kind of music. One thing is certain: sustained exposure to a white kid singing in an affected southern/Jamaican accent is likely to cause brain damage.

See O.A.R. at:

-University of Maryland

-University of Northern Iowa

-University of Illinois

-University of Kentucky

Third Eye Blind

Big things happen when Stephan Jenkins, Brad Hargreaves, Tony Fredianelli and Leo Kremer get together to make music as Third Eye Blind, yielding a string of hits back in the 90’s such as “Semi-Charmed Life”, “Graduate”, “Jumper” and the (humorously grammatically titled) “How’s it Going to Be.”

So what has become of the band since those halcyon days? Well, after a brief hiatus and a commercially unsuccessful third album, which was promoted via the “Within Arms Reach” – a tour of smaller clubs so that the band and its fans could literally get “within arms reach of each other”, as explained by the band – 3EB front man Jenkins has revealed that the band is working on a fourth album titled The Hideous Strength. Jenkins also reveals that the album will be “more political” than past efforts.

Sigh.

One wonders if fans will connect with the new, more self-serious Third Eye Blind. One also wonders what the practical difference is between the snack wraps available at Wendy’s versus those available at McDonalds. One wonders a lot of things.

See Third Eye Blind at:

-West Chester University

-Williams College

-Amherst College

-SUNY Oswego

-E. Connecticut St University

Gin Blossoms

As Wikipedia explains it, “[the Gin Blossoms] took their name from a photo of W.C. fields, which bore the caption ‘W.C. Fields with gin blossoms,’ referring to the actor’s gin-ravaged nose,” which is by far one of the best explanations of a band name I think I have ever heard. Another great thing about Wikipedia is that it provides insight into the often tumultuous and checkered pasts of artists that suddenly disappear from the limelight. Wheatus? Disagreements with the record label. LFO? Artistic differences (oh, to have been a fly on the wall during those conversations). Lou Bega? Consumed by a swarm of locusts in a freak accident (well, not really). Such are the ravages of fame.

As the Gin Blossoms prove, even acts on the margins of rock n’ roll history are not immune to the destructive nature of the rocker lifestyle. With failed studio albums, alcoholism, and personal meltdowns in their past, it’s a miracle the Blossoms are still around and kicking in 2008. Here’s to hoping that they have an incident-free show during their one college date at Mississippi St. University. Take it easy now kids. We know it’s been ten years since you heard “Hey Jealousy,” but that’s no reason to go f*cking bananas. Oh dear God, they’re heading to the Provost’s office…THEY’RE HEADING TO THE PROVOST’S OFFICE!

See the Gin Blossoms at:

-Mississippi St. University