By Marisa Dawson, Photos by Nick Scofield

Despite sweltering July temperatures, Friday night’s crowd at The Astro Amphitheater never seemed to notice the heat.

Instead, hundreds of fans spanning multiple generations gathered for the venue’s Free Encore Summer Concert Series, where Omaha rock band Virgin Mary Pistol Grip opened the evening before Candlebox reminded concertgoers why the Seattle band has remained a staple of rock radio for more than three decades.

Virgin Mary Pistol Grip, an Omaha-based alternative rock band known for pairing heavy guitars with emotionally driven songwriting, wasted little time winning over the audience.

The group delivered energetic performances of songs including “Dragonfly” and “Give Me a Reason” from their album Where Time Went, while frontman Jales Hupke (pictured below) repeatedly left the stage to meet fans in the pit. Throughout the set he handed out hugs, high-fives and guitar picks, posed for selfies and even tossed his tambourine into the crowd for one enthusiastic fan who sang every word right back to the stage.

By the time Candlebox emerged, the audience was already on its feet.

Opening with “Arrow” from the band’s 1993 self-titled debut album, lead singer Kevin Martin immediately had the crowd singing along. For the next hour and a half, Candlebox mixed fan favorites with newer material before closing the night with crowd-pleasing hits including “Far Behind,” “You” and “Rain.”

The audience responded exactly the way Martin hoped they would.

“I hope they had as much fun as we did,” Martin told Bennington Buzz before the concert. “I hope that they take a little bit of ownership for it. It has a lot to do with them being there… I don’t know if an audience really realizes how much they give to the band when they’re on stage.”

Judging by Friday night’s singalongs, the feeling was mutual.

While Candlebox has traveled the world since forming in Seattle in 1991, Omaha continues to hold a special place in Martin’s memory.

“Oh, I mean, I’ve met so many wonderful people that live there,” he said before the show. “I mean, I’ve kept in touch with these people since 1993… It’s a very special little town, and we’ve always had great shows there.”

Martin’s connection to the region extends beyond past concerts.

“I grew up in the Midwest,” he said. “I was born in Chicago. I grew up in Hutchinson, Kansas… the Midwest has always been a little bit like home for me.”

That familiarity was evident throughout Friday’s performance as Martin frequently interacted with the crowd between songs, creating the relaxed atmosphere of old friends catching up rather than a band simply passing through town.

Much of Candlebox’s longevity, Martin believes, comes from the chemistry within the current lineup. Asked how he would describe his bandmates, Martin laughed before offering an unexpected comparison.

“The H to my O, probably,” he said. “These guys… they give me a lot of energy and a lot of air and they’re kind of the water to my oxygen.”

He became more reflective as he spoke about the musicians who have shared the stage with him.

“It’s a pretty special thing. I’m very lucky to have the guys playing with me that I have. And it’s really nice to have Pete back, the original guitar player. That’s been pretty, pretty awesome.”

Of course, Martin was much less complimentary when asked how the rest of the band would probably describe him.

“I am probably the most irritating,” he joked. “You know those little things you step on when you’re walking through the fields and they stick in your skin? That’s probably what I am to them.”

Even after more than 30 years of touring, Martin says life on the road isn’t nearly as glamorous as many fans imagine.

“We play a lot of video game golf,” he said with a laugh when asked what happens backstage before a concert.

Beyond that, much of the day is spent preparing.

“There’s a lot of downtime. You’re waiting to play the show,” Martin said. “So conversations or discussing the set list for the next show or the next few shows, because we change our set list up every night.”

He also makes a point to watch the opening acts whenever possible.

“A lot of times, I like to watch the opening bands that play with us,” he said. “It’s always fun for me to see new talent and new artists doing things.”

That appreciation for younger musicians reflects how Martin views Candlebox’s own career.

The music industry has changed dramatically since the band broke through in the early 1990s, and Martin says adapting to those changes has been one of the biggest challenges.

“Well, now we gotta do social media,” he said with a laugh. “We used to be able to just go play a show and get on the bus… now it’s a different game.”

Still, he believes the band itself has continued to improve.

“We’ve grown as artists, we’ve grown as musicians, we’ve grown as songwriters, we’ve grown as players.”

Martin also reflected on how fans have shaped the meaning of Candlebox’s music over the years. Rather than writing lyrics with a single interpretation in mind, he intentionally leaves room for listeners to make songs their own.

“I’ve always kind of written vaguely so that my audience can kind of have their own interpretation of that lyric,” he said.

The responses he receives continue to remind him why music matters.

“I love the stories,” Martin said. “I mean, I think that’s one of the things that kind of makes what we do so special, is getting an email that says, the song changed my life when I was 8 years old, or I decided not to commit suicide after I heard the song. And, you know, those types of things are very special.”

Looking back over the band’s career, Martin admits there are a few things he would have done differently.

“Don’t listen to your manager,” he said with a laugh when asked what advice he would give his younger self.

He explained that the band’s early management focused heavily on success in the United States instead of expanding internationally.

“I would certainly say, you know, go to Europe, go to Asia, go to Canada, go to Australia, spend more time there,” he said. “We’ve only played there once in 35 years, and we should have been playing there all the time.”

Thirty years have also produced plenty of unforgettable memories, but one story still makes Martin smile.

Asked what scene absolutely had to appear if Candlebox’s career were ever made into a movie, he recalled the band’s first meeting with Madonna after signing to her Maverick Records label.

“When we first met her, we had a gold record,” Martin remembered. “She’s like, ‘How you guys doing?’ We’re like, ‘We have a gold record.’”

According to Martin, Madonna appeared genuinely surprised by the band’s success.

“She had no idea,” he said with a laugh. “It was kind of interesting to have that conversation with her.”

By the time Candlebox closed Friday night’s show with “Far Behind,” thousands of voices filled The Astro Amphitheater, creating one of the moments Martin said he still treasures after all these years.

“When we get to ‘Far Behind’ and the crowd sings every word of that song,” he said before taking the stage, “those are all very special moments.”

Friday night in La Vista added another one to the list.