While playing at Sundance, one band decided to draw blood. Third Eye Blind fired their guitarist Kevin Cadogan shortly after performing a Wednesday, January 25 gig at the Film Festival. The news first broke on Cadogan's own Web site,
www.Kevincadogan.com. The site claimed on its home page that drummer Brad Hargreaves gave the guitarist his marching orders.
The posted message read, "After the performance of Third Eye Blind at the Sundance Festival, Brad Hargreaves informs Kevin Cadogan of a unanimous decision to terminate his position in the group, to be effective immediately. This termination has been wrongfully executed by Third Eye Blind Inc. We will be posting more information as the events unfold."
The Web site said commiserations should be sent to the unfortunate string bender at KCSiteMaster@aol.com. By mid-afternoon the home page posting had been taken down, and was replaced by promotional information for the band's sophomore disc Blue. Emails to the webmaster went unreturned. The message later reappeared on Third Eye Blind's AOL message board.
Third Eye Blind has been more ruthless. On their Web site, www.3eb.com, all traces of the guitarist have been removed, including his bio and photo. Elektra spokespeople, however, are staying close-lipped. When reached for comment yesterday, VH1.com was told that Elektra's publicity team were "in a meeting" and could not be reached.
Third Eye Blind decided to release the information through Rollingstone.com. The Web site cited a statement from the band celebrating their hiring of Tony Fredianelli. Fredianelli first performed with the original incarnation of the Blind.
The statement reads, "The members of Third Eye Blind and one of their principal guitarists have parted ways. Brad Hargreaves, Stephan Jenkins, and Arion Salazar wish him every success. TEB welcomes back guitarist Tony Fredianelli, who has joined the group and will perform on the upcoming Dragons & Astronauts tour."
Jenkins gushed to Rolling Stone about Cadogan's replacement. "He's a metal God," he said. "The only reason [Fredianelli] had to leave the band in the first place is he couldn't stand the commute, since he lived in Las Vegas at the time."
The unexplained sacking has still left fans puzzled, particularly as the Blind were said to have performed a storming set at Sundance. Three songs from the January 25 "acoustic" gig were webcast on www.3eb.com, although the band appeared to be very much plugged in as they raced through hits like "Jumper" and "How's It Going to Be?" John Popper even took the stage to join the quartet on "Semi-Charmed Life."
The San Francisco band initially rocketed to success with the 1997 No. 1 modern rock hit "Semi-Charmed Life" and their self-titled debut. Cadogan learned guitar at the feet of Joe Satriani and joined the Blind in 1995 after seeing the nascent band at a gig. According to the Allmusic Guide, he also invited Hargreaves to join the band.
When it came time to release the 1999 follow-up, Blue, Third Eye Blind encountered resistance from their record company over the song "Slow Motion." Elektra objected to what it deemed "violent" lyrics like "Miss Jones taught me English, but I think I just shot her son / Cause he owed me money, with a bullet in the chest," especially in a post-Columbine climate.
The band agreed to change the lyrics to the song, which eventually appeared on Blue, vowing to release the original version on an EP through their own label.
Third Eye Blind were also scheduled to perform a Millennium Eve gig in Washington, DC last year. However, the band pulled out at the last minute. In a statement, the band said the promoters "could not follow through on its commitments in the manner necessary for a professional show. Third Eye Blind discovered that it would be unable to put on the kind of high-quality show necessary for its fans." "High-quality" apparently equals Tony Fredianelli.
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