Thrice’s performance cemented their position as living legends at the House of Blues’s intimate basement venue.
The crowd’s anticipation built as the synthesizer hit and the lights dimmed. When Thrice started playing, the cheering only ceased when the entire crowd starting shouting their words back at them in unison and with complete accuracy, creating a sense of comradery singing “to find there’s no them, there is only us” from their opening song “Only Us” from their latest album, PALMS.
“Image Of The Invisible” followed, complementing the first song as if to say “there’s no them, there’s only us because we were all made in the image of God.” Lead singer Dustin Kensrue had spent some time playing worship music under his own name; while Thrice has never really had the label of a “Christian” band, Kensrue certainly has weaved some of his beliefs into his writing.
Thrice might fit under the hardcore/post-hardcore/punk/metal umbrella, but they are known for their genre bending sound. Within the same set that night they played punk ballad “Artist In The Ambulance”, which had the whole crowd moshing immediately, and a song called “Beggars,” a slow and melancholy tune with fingerpicked guitar. The song “Anthology” is a folk tune played on electric guitars with lots of high gain distortion. Kensrue has such a beautiful and unique voice but the band doesn’t shy away from the occasional scream, which fits their style.
The band played a well rounded set featuring songs that went back to some of their first couple of albums, and a few off their latest release. Fans reported that “Paper Tigers” was the favorite of the night.