{"id":437996,"date":"2025-12-10T14:21:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/437996\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T14:21:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:21:17","slug":"alt-rockers-blue-october-play-phoenix-back-to-back-nights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/437996\/","title":{"rendered":"Alt-rockers Blue October play Phoenix back-to-back nights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blue October<\/a> singer Justin Furstenfeld has fond memories of Christmas with his brother\/future drummer Jeremy.<\/p>\n

Furstenfeld\u2019s Christmas memories evoke simpler times when the temperatures called for snuggling, and the holiday wasn\u2019t yet a technological juggernaut.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy fondest memory of Christmas<\/a> is in the \u201980s,\u201d Furstenfeld said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had these old-school Christmas lights. The lights were big, not HD, and small. I loved looking at Christmas lights with my mom and dad, and looking out the window, seeing a star and asking, \u2018Is that Santa?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Texas-born band headlines the Alt AZ 93.3 Ugly Sweater Holiday Party 2025 on Friday, December 12, and Saturday, December 13, at the Van Buren.<\/p>\n

Blue October presented two gifts to fans this year \u2014 the singles \u201cEverything We Lost in the Fire\u201d and the sexy, distortion-heavy \u201cHot Stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Furstenfeld boys are known for their curiosity. They glanced at the wrapped presents and noticed that one box was slightly moving.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried to guess what was in the box,\u201d Furstenfeld said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy brother thought it was a chicken. I said, \u2018A chicken? Why would we have a freakin\u2019 chicken, bro?\u2019 It turned out to be the cutest fucking puppy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Blue October lights up the venue.<\/p>\n

Rainmaker Entertainment Group<\/p>\n

Furstenfeld\u2019s parents strived for creativity. They were the first in their neighborhood to buy a trampoline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad made a scavenger hunt that led us to the back yard, where there was a trampoline,\u201d he said with a laugh from Milwaukee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Houston (in the \u201990s), if you had a trampoline, people thought you must be rich. My dad made all of my friends\u2019 parents sign permission slips. My dad was the shit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The road to musical success wasn\u2019t easy, as Furstenfeld battled mental health and addiction issues. He took on odd jobs while he tried to \u201cmake it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think this shit was going to work out,\u201d he said. \u201cI (worked as) an exterminator, waited tables, worked at mental health hospitals, cleaned hospitals,\u201d he said. \u201cI did whatever I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furstenfeld was treated for depression in Texas in the late 1990s. Afterward, Blue October released \u201cThe Answers,\u201d which addresses depression and suicidal ideation. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in late 2009 following an anxiety attack aboard a plane.<\/p>\n

To raise awareness of mental health issues, he released the 2020 documentary \u201cGet Back Up,\u201d which addresses his battle.<\/p>\n

He has been sober since May 2012. He is empathetic toward the challenges artists face.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was looking at Lily Allen,\u201d Fursetenfeld explained. \u201cI thought, \u2018Oh darn. She\u2019s pretty hurt. Some shit must have happened.\u2019 I go on social media, and she\u2019s dragging her husband through the shit. We work too hard for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Blue October is celebrating its 30th anniversary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blue October\u2014who has found success with songs like \u201cI Hope You\u2019re Happy,\u201d \u201cHate Me\u201d and \u201cInto the Ocean\u201d\u2014has toured the world.<\/p>\n

Although Blue October is writing new material, Furstenfeld said an album won\u2019t be released anytime soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring COVID, we released three albums,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are just now catching up on the last records. We\u2019re letting them catch up. If an artist keeps plastering me with songs, I\u2019d tell them, \u2018Shit, take a breather.\u2019 That\u2019s why we\u2019re celebrating the entire catalog of 30 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those songs are concert staples now, and that\u2019s where the musical similarities will start and end at the two Van Buren shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will do different sets for the fans who have tickets to both shows,\u201d said Furstenfeld, who is also an accomplished author and perfumer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shows will have a lot of positive energy and a lot of celebrating. We want to enjoy what we have.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

That sentiment will continue in 2026. After this jaunt, the band will take a break and then prepare for the\u00a0 anniversary of its fourth studio album, \u201cFoiled.\u201d Universal Music Group will release the collection on vinyl.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll go on tour with that album,\u201d Furstenfeld said. \u201cThen, we\u2019ll take a break for a while. It\u2019s a blessing that we have so many songs. We\u2019re celebrating our whole catalog, we have a new album coming, and then we\u2019ll hit it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither success nor repetition has spoiled Blue October.<\/p>\n

\u201cBro, I love making music,\u201d he said. \u201cWe stopped trying to be No. 1. No. 1 is just a number these days. Art is a state of mind these days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith any song, you just have to connect with people. We\u2019re grateful to have the opportunity to connect with human beings on the road. Right now, we\u2019re at the Rave in Milwaukee. We\u2019ve played here 18 times since 1999. It never gets old.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he feels blessed to have booked two nights at The Van Buren.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Van Buren,\u201d Furstenfeld said. \u201cI brought my son and daughter there for the first time. They have the coolest backstage. It\u2019s one of the best places we get to play on the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy just playing that club. The first time, when my kids were playing with other kids, I thought, \u2018Oh my god. We made it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Blue October performs as part of the Alt AZ 93.3 Ugly Sweater Holiday Party 2025 on Friday, December<\/strong> 13, at The Van Buren<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blue October singer Justin Furstenfeld has fond memories of Christmas with his brother\/future drummer Jeremy. Furstenfeld\u2019s Christmas memories…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":437997,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,132130,1589,132131,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-437996","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-concert-previews","12":"tag-phoenix","13":"tag-touring-artists","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115695720744700102","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}