Three Bands Bring the Crowd to Its Feet at Greek Theatre

“Intimate arena rock” sounds like a major oxymoron, but that’s what Third Eye Blind, Vertical Horizon and Nine Days gave a capacity crowd Greek Theatre crowd on Thursday in a 3 1/2-hour show that underscored the deathless appeal of adept, guitar-driven pop. Truly thrilling moments were few, but the stadium-rawk conventions kept coming, as each group exhorted the audience to stand up, clap hands, sing along, etc.

Third Eye Blind frontman Stephan Jenkins really got into the spirit, sporting a Guns N’ Roses T-shirt, velvet frock coat and black top hat. He even left the massive, post-industrial chutes-and-ladders set to make an I-wanna-be-with-the-people foray into the stands, singing a tepid rendition of the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” and an exuberant take on his own “Jumper.”

During its 90-minute headlining performance, drawn from last year’s “Blue” as well as its self-titled 1997 debut, the Bay Area band seemed less to deserve the “post-grunge” label bestowed upon it and so many other late-’90s acts that blended heartland jangle-pop with punk aggression and ‘70s-rock flourishes. Rather, Jenkins and company simply are heirs to 30-plus years of rock tradition, blending eras like this year’s fashion designers to come up with their thoroughly modern, if faintly stale, style.

Scruffy-cute Long Island quintet Nine Days offered an appealing, earthier variation on the theme, drawing a sizable audience despite its early start time. Fans cheered the bouncy hit “Absolutely (Story of a Girl),” but the 30-minute set’s highlight was the churning, 21st-century boho-rock anthem “Bob Dylan.”

Moodier and broodier, Washington-bred, Boston-based Vertical Horizon evoked Bush and U2 with 40 minutes’ worth of melodic, shimmering rockers and ballads from its current hit album, “Everything You Want.”