Show Review: Thrice Celebrates the Release of Horizons/East at House of Blues Anaheim
Thrice playing a SOLD OUT show at House of Blues Anaheim.
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY JAZMIN LEMUS
Thrice was one of the last bands I saw and photographed before this lockdown situation took place in March 2020. They had just wrapped up the 15-year anniversary tour of Vheissu (2005). I remember writing the review for that show and publishing it at the time that it was announced that things were getting serious with this virus. As 2020 went by, live music is the one thing I just couldn’t wait to experience again, especially from one of my all time favorite bands.
When Thrice announced this tour, the reaction online was as everyone expected. A+ lineup. Thrice, Touche Amore, Self Defense Family. Unfortunately, Self Defense Family couldn’t play the last few days of the tour due to a COVID case in their camp. Sending them all the good vibes. Since this change happened, Touche Amore ended up extending their set in the last dates of the tour that Self Defense Family couldn’t play.
On Saturday, October 30th, Thrice and Touche Amore played a SOLD OUT show at House of Blues Anaheim. Los Angeles natives, Touche Amore, performed for 45 minutes and played songs from different eras of their career. They started off with “Come Heroine” off their latest album, Lament (2020), and then continued onto “Displacement” off Stage Four (2016). For fans of the band, these songs were not new to them and the energy was strong from the start. Other songs they played during their set were fan favorites “Limelight”, “Just Exist”, and “Flowers and You”. Touche Amore finished their set with “~” off Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me (2011). For fans that have been with them for years, this setlist was one that they were happy with as it was a fair mix of older and newer songs by the band.
With Touche Amore getting the crowd warmed up for Thrice, everyone was more than ready to see the Orange County natives do what they do best and they did it with one of the most diverse sets I’ve seen them play. As expected and in support of their new album, Horizons/East, Thrice started off their set with a new song, “The Color of the Sky” and immediately moved onto another new song, “Scavengers”. It didn’t take too long for them to play a super fan favorite, “The Artist In The Ambulance”. The vibe in the room immediately changed as everyone sang along. Thrice played songs from almost every album. The setlist included fan favorites such as “All The World Is Mad”, “In Exile”, “Hurricane”, and “The Long Defeat”. In the mix of those older songs, Thrice wouldn’t forget to showcase more songs off the new album, which included “Buried in the Sun”, “Summer Set Fire to the Rain”, “Robot Soft Exorcism”, and “Dandelion Wine”. If you were expecting to hear Thrice classics such as “Deadbolt” or “Kill Me Quickly”, this show wasn’t the show you’d hear them at. Despite the fact that Thrice didn’t play their harder stuff from the early days, people looked like they were having a blast! Even though we didn’t get the harder songs from Identity Crisis (2000) or The Illusion of Safety (2002), Thrice still delivered fan favorites that guaranteed to get fans to open up the pit. I had eye surgery at the beginning of 2020 and since then, I have been afraid about going in the pit as I don’t want to risk getting hit in the head somehow. Prior to that surgery, I wouldn’t even hesitate about going in there, so I am extremely jealous of everyone that got to release their energy when Thrice played “Of Dust and Nations”, “Firebreather”, and “The Earth Will Shake”! If you know, you KNOW! As the show was reaching its end, Thrice returned to the stage for an encore. They wrapped up the night (and tour) with “Beyond the Pines” off Palms (2018) and “Anthology” off Major/Minor (2011). For those of us that see Thrice on every tour, how often do we get to hear them play a song off Major/Minor?!
All in all, it was a perfect night. Living in the times we are living in, everyone has been doing their part. And I think everyone that went to this show did their part. Seeing two bands from Southern California playing at a venue that’s a fan favorite in Southern California. This show was perfect.
Touche Amore
Thrice
