BB Kings, New York, NY, 31 January 2013
This was my third time seeing the Gin Blossoms in concert and they sounded the best here. My last
time seeing them was an outdoors free show so the sound wasn’t that good as that happens at free and outdoor concerts. The time before that, our seats were in the balcony section. The venue at BB Kings though is pretty good though if you like small venues. I think it has around a 300 person capacity, so you could hear it well wherever you are. We got there late, so we were in the back, but it was still loud and sounded good. I couldn’t see the center of the stage that well where Robin (the singer) was at times because there was someone tall in front of me, but it didn’t bother me as he moved around throughout the show and I was able to see some of the other band members.
The band seemed to be in good form and seemed to be into the music from what I saw. Scott Johnson (the guitarist) seemed probably the most into it especially during his solos. Supposedly he even took one of Jesse’s solos. From what I saw, Robin seemed pretty into it too interacting with the fans. He tried to get them into it by telling them to put their hands in the air throughout the performance. He was using his tambourine as he does at most of the shows. Perhaps the band was most into it during the encore where they covered two songs by the Plimsouls: “Now” and “Million Miles Away” which the guitarist from the Plimsouls joined them on stage to perform them. Robin said this was a big deal for the Gin Blossoms as it did seem that way because of how they were all into it while playing those songs. He seemed to have more energy during those two songs and perhaps he did since The Plimsouls had a big influence on them.
I was kind of disappointed I missed the first two and a half songs which were “Don’t Change For Me”, “Lost Horizons”, and “Miss Disarray” as I like some of those songs better than some of the other ones they played. At least I got to seem play those last time I saw them though. I think they played most of the same new songs they played last time I saw them. The only one I think they didn’t play last time was “Dead or Alive on the 405.” I didn’t like the new songs that much when I first listened to them, but I started liking them more since like 4 months ago. Hearing them live for the second time made me like them more too. One of the highlights of the new songs for me was “I’m Ready.” I don’t know if it sounded better live or if I just liked hearing it that time as I didn’t listen to it that much before. The live version seemed a little longer than the studio version. I was glad they played “Competition Smile” and “29” as I don’t think I heard both of those live before and “Competition Smile” is one of my favorites by them. The hits were good as usual, just wasn’t as excited for them as much as the album songs since I heard them before and have live versions of them on iTunes. The rest of the crowd though was most excited for the hits, especially “Hey Jealousy”, “Follow You down” and “Found Out About You” as they went crazy when they heard the intros to those songs. I think I remember “Hey Jealousy” having somewhat of a different intro than the studio version. Nothing big, but a little different and I though t it sounded better.
I did not know if I would like the cover songs at the end so I wasn’t that excited, but I was surprised. Their version of “Million Miles Away” I thought was really good. The music sounded somewhat like a Gin Blossoms song so that was good and Robin’s vocals were good too. So instead of a cover song, it almost felt like it was a Gin Blossoms song I didn’t hear before. Goo Goo Dolls did a cover of that song, but I thought the Gin Blossoms version was better. I don’t know who I like better as a vocalist, but Robin’s voice might have just suited this song better. I would really like it if Gin Blossoms released a cover of this song. I thought “Now” was pretty good, I just liked “Million Miles Away” a lot more.
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