When asked about Freakfest, Madison’s annual Halloween bash on State Street, Third Eye Blind drummer Brad Hargreaves made the understatement of the year.
“I heard people take it pretty seriously there.”
When you were a child, you may have associated Halloween with a plastic-smelling costume, a pillowcase full of candy bars and a rush of exhilaration from being outside past your usual bedtime. As a college student, however, you are now probably more likely to associate Oct. 31 with huge crowds, a swarm of heart-stopping, skanky costumes and, this year, great music.
Third Eye Blind, an alternative rock band from the ’90s that many associate with hits such as “Semi-Charmed Life” and “Slow Motion,” will be headlining this year’s Freakfest. The band can’t wait to get back out on tour and make a stop on our campus.
“My favorite part of being on tour is just playing,” Hargreaves said. “When you’re playing at home it’s cool, but when you’re out and you have all the fans hearing your music and appreciating the music while you’re playing, it’s just really cool. We don’t get to play live all that much, so when we get a chance to it’s really fun.”
Third Eye Blind will be performing on the Mountain Dew Amp stage by the Capitol and will go on at 8 p.m. Hargreaves also insists the band is as excited to come to Madison as the students are for them to perform.
“We’re really excited,” Hargreaves said. “I’ve heard it’s just mayhem [on Halloween].”
Third Eye Blind fans should be excited that not only new tracks off their latest album, Ursa Major, will be played at Freakfest, but old favorites as well. As any good band knows, songs are classics because people still love them. It’s far too common to hear “Motorcycle Drive By” being played through open car windows and few people can’t sing along to the “Doo-doo-doo” chords of “Semi-Charmed Life.” Hargreaves is adamant each album will receive its due in terms of which songs are played.
“We’re really fired up about our new songs right now, so there will be a few of those, but we always take care to play the songs that everyone knows,” Hargreaves said.
Third Eye Blind’s fourth album, Ursa Major, was released six years after the band’s previous album. The album puts to rest any of the arguments that the band was washed up or destined to be a great ’90s memory, stuffed into the closet alongside scrunchies, the Macarena and “Saved By The Bell.” According to Billboard, Ursa Major debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and sold 49,000 copies in its first week of release. It was also the group’s highest charting album yet.
“[Releasing the album] was kind of stressful actually,” Hargreaves said. “It’s hard, sort of allowing yourself to be judged again, but it definitely exceeded our expectations as far as how many [copies] were sold and how it was viewed.”
The alternative rock album contains 12 tracks, including Hargreaves’ favorite track, “Water Landing.”
“The drums are just really loud,” Hargreaves said. “That song just came out of nowhere to be one of the better songs.”
This year, Freakfest is looking to have one of its best years yet, especially with this outstanding headlining act. Students from all over Wisconsin are getting pumped up to enjoy not only the party like atmosphere and freshman girls in cop costumes, but some Third Eye Blind classics and their latest jams as well. With Ursa Major, Third Eye Blind proved it, just like our beloved “Jump Around,” is a ’90s tradition that’s here to stay.
