If Blue October ever gets big–really big–big enough to headline baseball stadiums, you can say goodbye to the band’s frontman, Justin Furstenfeld.
Furstenfeld has had his fill of baseball and its unfriendly confines, and he’s got three torn ligaments and a broken fibula to prove it.
In what was supposed to be an innocuous publicity stunt in April, the five members of Blue October–Furstenfeld, his brother, drummer Jeremy; violinist Ryan Delahoussaye; guitarist CB Hudson; and bassist Matt Novesky–ran the bases at Brighthouse Field, a minor-league ballpark in Clearwater, Fla.
When Justin descended on home plate, his right leg slid out from under him, and he heard two loud snaps and landed in the batter’s box–in pain.
His team-, er, bandmates doubled over laughing, unaware Justin was injured and that he’d be spending the next several months performing from a stool.
“I was lying on the ground crying …,” he says. “I’m never stepping in a baseball stadium ever again.”
Fortunately, every gig on Blue October’s docket is in clubs, not clubhouses, save for their anticipated slot at this year’s Lollapalooza. “I went to it every year as a kid,” Justin says. “And now I’m actually on the bill? I can’t tell you how amazing it is. I’m freaking out.”
By the time Blue October hits the stage Friday, Justin should be free to roam the stage. “If I play Lollapalooza in a cast,” he says, “I’m gonna be pissed.”
A decade since Blue October’s formation in Houston, it’s only now that the quintet is beginning to get its due. The band’s third album, “Foiled,” can’t be boiled down to any one rock sub-genre. If you like Peter Gabriel, it’s in there (“She’s My Ride Home”). If Korn’s more your speed, Blue has you covered (“Drilled a Wire Through My Cheek”).
Blue October’s latest single, “Hate Me,” is an account of Justin’s personal torment, fueled by addiction to drugs and alcohol and selfishness in relationships. He says it’s “an anthem for apologies.”
“I’ve always been self-medicated,” he says. “I’ve lived with depression since I was a kid. Everybody in the world lives with some type of issue and some type of depress or ADD or bipolar [condition]. I’m so sick of naming things.
“I have to stay on my meds or I’m a different person.”
While Justin’s candor is refreshing, it also becomes a burden when he’s constantly singing about past transgressions. “But through pain you find hope through cleaning out your closet–as Eminem would say.”
———
MEET ME LOLLA
Blue October
When: 12:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Bud Light stage
