It took ten years and four albums, but theatrical mood rockers Blue October finally broke out of the regional scene in 2006 with Foiled. Powered by their hit ยHate Me,ย the Houston quintet has become a national headline act in the Maroon 5/ Hoobastank niche of mainstream rock. Not that itยs been all roses for the band, as our own John Nova Lomax opined in his year-end column; ยOn the rock front, Blue October had the biggest hit, with a song we wish didnยt exist.ย Lomaxยs criticism aside, BO has racked up almost 5 million hits on ยHate Meย on their MySpace site, so somebody out there likes what they are doing.
This article appears in Aug 2-8, 2007.