Candlebox Celebrate 26 Years of Debut Album

It is hard to believe the 90s are now nearly 30 years ago; nevertheless, music from the decade continues to be one of the most popular to this day. In particular, the grunge scene out of Seattle seems to have prevailed regardless of music’s continuous evolution. One of the bands out of grunge city that continues to play and record music is Candlebox; nearly 26 years since it’s debut, Candlebox’s debut album continues to be played on radio stations and loved by those who were lucky enough to grow up in the 90s. The band embarked on a tour to celebrate their now iconic album which includes the memorable tracks “Far Behind,” “You,” and “Cover Me,” amongst others.

The band had to include New York City on their extensive tour list, and made their way to Irving Plaza on April 27th. Candlebox brought out Whole Damn Mess to open up for them, who played straight forward rock music with a lot of interaction from their frontman, Don Miggs. While not much information is available, it can be said the Whole Damn Mess put on a great show and prepped the incoming crowd for Candlebox. Once on stage, Candlebox kept the crowd going with their debut album, which includes their most popular songs to date. At some point, an individual in the crowd seems to have pushed his way to the front, to which frontman Kevin Martin felt he had to stop his entire band from playing until the individual went back to where he had come from. Now, I don’t know what rock show has never had its pushing and shoving, but perhaps he felt it was too rough for the crowd.

This would not be the last time Kevin Martin felt the need to call someone out, as the entire crowd came next. When it came time for the band to play “Far Behind,” Martin told the crowd (some of which had their phones up in the air to capture one of the most memorable songs of the 90s) that they quote, “were not even enjoying the moment because (they’re) too busy recording.” I find it harsh when artists call out the crowd when doing this. While the band may have come up when cell phones did not exist and therefore miss seeing a crowd without phones, the truth is that just as music has evolved, so has the audience. With technology present and the ability to share moments with people across the world, it is completely fair for the audience to film if they wish to. Shaming the crowd for wanting to record a memory with his band seemed a bit exaggerated, however, the audience obliged and put their phones down.

Regardless of the sprouts of attitude from Kevin Martin, Candlebox brought their A game when performing. The band was tight, the sound was great (all the way to the back), and Kevin Martin’s voice was impressively loud and he easily screamed identically to the record. The band did not just play some of the songs from their debut album, but took the audience through a timeline of their entire discography, playing some of their favorite tracks from every record they’ve released. The entire show totaled an entire two hours, a pleasant surprise that left everyone in the audience fulfilled.