Blue October at Westbrook Performing Arts Center – March 19, 2023

The San Marcos, Texas based rock band, Blue October, finally made their way to the Westbrook Performing Arts Center in Westbrook, Maine after rescheduling their original tour date from November. The tour, which is named after their latest album, Spinning The Truth Around, had fans gathered with excitement as they were treated with an array of songs from their discography. Blue October was supported by the band The Beatnik Bandits, which is a soulful rock band from Austin, Texas.

The Beatnik Bandits

The Beatnik Bandits were an incredible opener for Blue October, as they had immense stage presence and really felt involved with the crowd. They truly exuded that southern charm from their mannerisms to the sultry, raw vocals from lead singer Christian Sparks. There was this country-rock feel to Sparks’ voice that had me super invested.

But, it wasn’t just that, there was something about the amount of energy and love that bounced between each bandmate on stage– everyone truly looked happy to be there and enjoyed performing. You don’t really see that kind of raw passion too often. They truly played their hearts out as if this stop in this little town in Maine was a sold out arena in a large city.

Blue October

After a much anticipated wait, lead singer Justin Furstenfeld graced the stage with his cool aura and led the night with songs that had fans jumping from their seats and singing along. The current line up of Blue October consists of lead singer Justin Furstenfeld, drummer Jeremy Furstenfeld, multi-instrumentalist Ryan Delahoussaye, bassist Matt Noveskey, and touring guitarist Sus Vasquez. Furstenfeld had completely worked the stage with power between guitar changes and belting raw, powerful vocals that drowned the venue.

Fans echoed the words back of “Oh My My”, “This is What I Live For” and other songs off of their 2020 album, This Is What I Live For. Fans also heard songs off their latest album, Spinning The Truth Around which debuted in October of 2022. Traveling Guitarist, Sus Vasquez, also brought a charm to the stage that was very much welcomed, and absolutely fun to watch. I truly admire women in the rock scene, so it was incredible watching her mesh so well with the band.

The night previous they had played at the Orpheum Theater in Boston, so we were very lucky to have them stop in the quaint town of Westbrook! Rarely do we get to see bands with such large followings such as Blue October make a stop here in Maine, so it was an absolute treat having them here. Blue October is currently finishing out this leg of the tour until April 8th. We will be looking forward to Blue October making their rounds to the New England area again, and will surely catch them when they make their return. You can listen to their newest record here.