Thrice at Diesel (Pittsburgh, PA)

Thrice – Pittsburgh, PA at Diesel – 15 November 2009

Support: The Polar Bear Club and The Dear Hunter

Words and photo’s by Richard Hoover

I know I am not the biggest fan of Thrice. I am not as obsessed as other fans who seemingly have memorized and rated every song of their seven plus album career (plus one live album). I only discovered them a year ago and know a small portion of their work.

Yet from what I’ve heard, Thrice should be this decade’s U2 or at least as big as Radiohead. Indeed, Thrice’s latest release – Beggars [Vagrant Records] – is to me a post-hardcore/post-alt rock Achtung Baby meets Rattle and Hum mixed with bits of Muse, Radiohead, and even 90′s Bruce Springsteen and 80′s Sting. Though such references may allude to my age and tastes, they also allude to Thrice deserving to be a stadium level performing artist.

Thrice briefly flirted with mass breakout between 2003′s The Artist in the Ambulance and 2005′s major label release (Island Records) Vheissu. However, since then, the band has gone back under the radar to a devoted following and those educated, late coming lovers of true art, like me, who were lucky to be turned on to Thrice by devoted followers.

And a devoted following it is. Thus, I expected a good turn out for their show at Club Diesel, Pittsburgh, PA on Nov. 15, 2009. Indeed it was a packed crowd. Standing room only on the floor, while on the Club’s upper level, the crowd occupied every reasonable view of the stage.

The first act was Polar Bear Club which people have described as sounding like Hot Water music. The band previously toured the UK earlier this year with the Gaslight Anthem and Frank Turner. To me, their recorded tracks sound like the emo, punk, hardcore that use to be really big earlier this decade. I never got into such style so admittedly I am not the best person to comment on their music.

Live, the vocalist was very active and manic in his movements with the bassist and one of the guitarists also projecting good punk energy. Both the lead singer and same guitarist threw a couple of jumps into their performance. They will be touring the UK and Europe again in 2010 from February to March, including dates in the UK and Wales in Manchester, Norwich, Newport, Leeds, Nottingham and London.

The Dear Hunter were next and were a real revelation. The band themselves stood in place (though with six people, there wasn’t a lot of room to move) with the drummer being the most animated. It was fun watching his facial expressions and him getting into his playing.

While the band did not project much energy or grandeur, the songs did. The sound was truly epic, even operatic. sounding like a combination of Muse and the Matches re-interpreting songs by Genesis and Yes. For me, their songs played a little longer than necessary (a common prog/art rock criticism). By the middle of the eight song set, the sound started to get a little tiring and similar. But then, the band ended with three songs that bought a different sound and were wonderfully engaging. Those three songs were Oracles on the Delphi Express [a cappella but with acoustic guitar]; Red Hands; and He Said He Had A Story. Compared to the earlier songs, these were the “pop” songs of the band with last two having particularly gorgeous and upbeat melodies.

After changing the drums and backline, Thrice came out. The set – see full list below – drew fairly evenly from Beggars, Vheissu and the Artist in the Ambulance plus three songs from the Alchemy Indexes [a double album released as two separate "volumes" - albums]. Additionally, the band covered The Beatle’s Helter Skelter. This cover is one of five free downloads when you buy the new album – Beggars..

The band played their songs with intensity, moving around but with Dustin and Teppei often performing with a head down, eyes closed intensity. This made it a challenge to photograph them with heads up, eyes open while performing. Ironically, the performance of Helter Skelter was a nice change of pace with the band taking this intense Beatles song and coming across as lighthearted and having a good time.

Sonically, Thrice live is rawer and heavier than recorded, “heavy” as in projecting a huge wall of sound. Even slow pace and quiet songs like Beggars and Daedalus had a “heavy” vibe while strangely meditative. If I had to sum the sound and vibe in a single word, it would again be “intense”. Nonetheless, the intensity and heavy atmosphere did not prevent the theatrical drama of All the World is Mad, the bluesy or folksy roots band grooves of The Weight and In Exile, or the ethereal beauty of A Song for Milly Michaelson from cutting through. And of course, the harder songs roared. Though the performance and sound is intense and the band does not stand still, it is not the most dynamic performance nor grand spectacle either. You don’t go to see Thrice for a manic stage show, crowd engaging theatrics or stadium rock posturing.

You go for an – there’s that word – intense performance by true artists, for the songs and to be a part or enjoy the vibe of an active crowd that was clearly into the songs singing, shouting, moving, moshing, bouncing and waving hands. But what if you don’t know the songs to sing and bounce along with like me. Aside from the Beatle’s cover, I only recognized three of the fourteen songs: The Artist in the Ambulance, The Earth Will Shake and All the World is Mad – the only Beggars’ tune I had heard before the show.

Is the show fun for someone that does not know the songs like the diehard fans? I can’t say it was fun as much as it was intriguing and left me “chewing on” what I just saw, knowing what I saw was greater than the parts. That intrigue caused me to go out and immediately browse for live clips of the band to relive the experience and figure out those layers – and then to go and buy Beggars [you should too]. Is there any more higher recommendation and demonstrative effect of a live show than that.

Set list: Of Dust And Nations, Silhouette, All The World Is Mad,The Weight, Helter Skelter, In Exile, Song For Milly Michelson, Hold Fast Hope, The Artist In The Ambulance, The Melting Point Of Wax, Daedalus, Like Moths To Flame, The Arsonist, Beggars. Encore: The Earth Will Shake

Notes:

This 14 song performance was actually a short set for Thrice as the venue had a 10:00 PM curfew. Sets on this tour appear to usually be from 16 to 18 songs long with Internet posts claiming sets of over 20 songs when Thrice toured earlier this year.

After scanning set lists from other shows on this tour, it appears that Thrice varies the songs and order from night to night making each show different regarding songs.

Posted on Sunday, 15 November 2009 in Live Reviews, Mainarticles | 2 Comments »
Tagged as Dustin Kensrue, Ed Breckenridge, Riley Breckenridge, Teppei Teranishi, The Dear Hunter, The Polar Bear Club, Thrice