Gin Blossoms
June 26, 2026
Lock 3 Park (Akron, OH)
By Rob McCune
Gin Blossoms, or as frontman Robin Wilson calls them “your favorite Nineties band from Tempe, Arizona,” formed in 1987 but has been touring since 1992. Thirty-four years of concert tours, in the range of 1,500 shows, and the bloom still hasn’t fallen.
The band kicked off its 2026 summer tour with an outdoor amphitheater show in Akron, Ohio, sharing the stage with a local band, Dave Rich & His Enablers. A few shows in early July on their own, so to speak, will lead into another blitz with fellow Nineties hits-makers Blues Traveler and the Spin Doctors – a second-straight summer of this pairing, which is really can’t-miss for anyone who came of age with this music.
Gin Blossoms are always a great, fun time live on stage. Wilson shakes a tambourine for much of the set, which he usually lends to someone in the front row for a song or two, before rocking out on a red-white-and-blue guitar.
The crowd sings along on all of the radio hits—obviously, “Hey, Jealousy,” but also “Follow You Down,” “Alison Road,” “Found Out About You,” and more.
For Nineties kids, Gin Blossoms provided the soundtracks to our crushes, nervous first dates, and crushing break-ups. As such, that music is seared to our hearts and souls. Which means, literally, many of us will follow the Gin Blossoms down … anywhere they go.
For this show on a night in Akron which threatened a storm and briefly sprinkled rain, the sky turned a vivid pink as the sun set on what turned out to be a perfect evening.
It was the start of a 50-plus show tour for the band, so there’s plenty of opportunity to catch them live, and you should.
Follow Rob McCune on Instagram (@Every_Thing_After_Photo) and listen to the “Every.Thing.After Podcast” on Spotify.
