Blind Melon is best known for the song “No Rain” and the tragic cocaine overdoes that took lead singer Shannon Hoon’s life and ended the band. Blind Melon is back, though, with lead singer Travis Warren taking his place.

The rest of the group is back, Christopher Thorn and Roger Stevens are back as the duel lead guitar team, Brad Smith is on bass, and Glen Graham is playing the drums. The group had originally disbanded in 1999, three years after Blind Melon released Nice, an album in honor of Hoon and whose proceeds went to a non-profit organization that helped musicians with drug addictions.

Though everybody remembers the bee girl in “No Rain”, others may forget that the group actually played a good deal of heavy metal/classic rock type songs on the self-titled debut album in addition to the acoustic forays like “No Rain” and “Change”. That album, released in 1992, brought the band to the forefront and promised a bright future.

The tragic death came as Blind Melon was on tour promoting their sophomore album, Soup. The album took a different approach that had 13 tracks in the then rare alternative rock approach. The untimely death of Hoon came just over a year after the birth of his daughter and against the advice of Hoon’s drug counselor.

Those who saw Blind Melon in the first half of the ‘90s had rare tickets to see one of the most memorable voices of the decade. In the 21st century the group has come back together to release its first album with new material on it since 1996. For My Friends is being released on an independent label and will have a North American tour scheduled for summer 2008.

The Seats will have Blind Melon tickets to those major concerts as the tour stretches from Seaside Park, New Jersey to Vancouver. The Seats has all the concert updates you could want as well as cheap seats that make this summer a good time for everyone to see a live show.