Written by Jennifer Carmona
Nov 03, 2007 at 07:31 PM
ImageHouston-based Blue October rocked to a packed Verizon Wireless Theater last Saturday night.  Lead vocalist, Justin Furstenfeld, made sure to thank their home town for supporting the band through all 4 albums and since their days at Fitzgerald’s.  The quintet of course covered songs from their current album, Foiled, that came out last year and reached platinum sales.  At one point the house lights came up and I could see everyone around me either singing or screaming along to “Hate Me”.

Another crowd pleaser was inevitably “Into the Ocean”.  Again, not one person around me could keep silent.  One of my favorite songs preformed that night was “Calling You”, from the History for Sale album.  There was a sea of cell phones in the crowd shining back at the stage.  The band played a generously lengthy set and look a couple minutes to breathe before coming back out, by demand from the crowd, for an encore including at least 4 or 5 more songs.

I have to admit I didn’t know a lot about this band going into this show, but they won my heart last weekend.  The way Justin interacted with the audience and acted out lot of the lyrics really showed me how passionate he is about his music.  He announced that his father was in the audience and sang his father’s favorite song while looking straight at him most of the time. The fact that the crowd just couldn’t seem to get enough of these guys was another factor. These were hardcore fans and I had a blast rockin’ out with them all.

A couple things I can’t forget to mention is 1) violinist, Ryan Delahoussaye.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone play a violin with quite the same style and passion.  You’re used to seeing guitars and drums on stage at a rock concert, but a violin?  Delahoussaye claimed that instrument and poured his heart out through it.

And 2) guitarist C.B. Hudson and his fervent performance blew me away in the third song where he stood 2 inches from me on the edge of the stage and blasted ROCK into my very soul.  That had to be the highlight on my evening!  Thanks guys – all of you – for an awesome show.  Can’t wait to see you again and hope it’s very soon.