Thrice

Thrice
Photo by Jeremy C Wilkins

The first time I saw Thrice was around 2003 when they were on tour with Coheed & Cambria and Thursday. At the time, my only knowledge of Thrice was what I had heard from friends and reading about them in zines. My ears had yet to be graced with their talents. From the end of their first song on that fateful night, I was indoctrinated as a Thrice fan for better or for worse until death-of me or the band, whichever comes first-parts us. Since witnessing them that first time I have seen them open at a variety of shows, but always missed seeing them on a headlining tour. Needless to say, I was anticipating this show like a young child anticipating Christmas morning.

Thrice (courtesy of myspace.com/thrice)

Arriving at In The Venue, Pelican was already playing and my conversation with a few friends took me right through their set and into Circa Survive’s. About half way through C.S. I was wishing I would have talked my way past their set instead of Pelican’s. It’s not that I don’t appreciate some of C.S.’s music, but more that their live set doesn’t do much for me and begins to feel like someone is pulling my fingernails out.

After a technical delay prepping the acoustic guitar (which was never resolved), Thrice finally took the stage. I was curious to see what kind of set would come on this particular tour. For those left unawares, the band has released four ep’s, collectively titled, The Alchemy Index, in under a year’s time, basically the equivalent of two lp’s. With that amount of new material, there was no telling how many older classics or obscurities would be presented. Understandably so, they played a wide mix from their four newest releases, but were sure not to forget to add in some oldies along the way to appease those who fell in love with the metal riffs and screaming that monopolized much of Thrice’s earlier work.

Thrice is a band that has evolved a great deal in a short amount of time without losing their niche of individuality. Even though much of their newer material is a far cry from where they began, it only showcases their extreme talent and the fact that they still play older tracks insinuates that although they have explored other sounds, they know how they got to where they are and remind their fans consistently that they still have a heavy-hitting hand.

Overall, the set flowed very well. The blend of digital noise, folk rock, heavy, fast, somber and contemplative guitar work and screaming and raspy singing all fit somehow and the packed venue seemed to give approval by exhibiting mass amounts of energy, enthusiasm and collective singing. Of course, the fact that Thrice’s live sound is breathtaking and face-smashingly awesome at the same time helped make the night a total success too.

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