Concert Review + Photos : Thrice’s To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere Tour

Photos and words by Samantha Skapin

Last Sunday was a day I had been waiting for months for, and it was all because Thrice would be rolling through for their To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere Tour at the Agora Theatre and Ballroom in Cleveland. Thrice had support from two amazing bands, La Dispute and Nothing, Nowhere.

Nothing, Nowhere opened the show with a simple blue light and a projected video playing behind them, which was a nice touch for the opening band. I feel like I had heard of this band before, but I went into their set not really knowing much, which was nice for a change. These guys are kind of a mystery and have a good variance of sound to them, as some of their songs have hip hop beats and rapping mixed with instrumental guitars and vocals similar to the band Citizen. The vocals were very honest and gritty, and I was honestly taken aback when the vocalist starting rapping, but he nailed it. They played a couple of songs off of their newest release, Who Are You? and one of their most popular songs, “I’ve Been Doing Well“.  You could tell these guys were so grateful for the experience to play on this tour, as they would talk in between songs about how great it was to play in front of such a big crowd. The crowd seemed to be really into this band too, which was awesome to see such immense support for these guys. Overall, I’d say these guys are definitely a band to look out for and if you get the chance, see them live. Also, make sure to check our their latest single, Neither Here, Nor There!

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Next was La Dispute, which I could tell everyone was anticipating. I actually haven’t had the chance to check out La Dispute live yet, so I was pretty excited, seeing they are one of my favorite bands. Their soft yellow lighting and the introduction of the guitar playing one simple chord opened up into “Hudsonville, MI 1956” off of their release Rooms Of The House. Jordan Dreyer, the vocalist, was immediately bursting with energy, jumping around the stage with his tambourine in hand. It was incredible to watch him because he had such a stage presence throughout the entire set, even jumping into the crowd multiple times. They played quite a few songs off of Rooms of the House, including “Scenes From Highways 1981-2009”, “Woman (Reading)”, and of course “For Mayor in Splitsville“, which Dreyer was in the crowd passing the mic to fans to sing the words. They closed with the infamous “King Park” from their record Wildlife, which I was so excited to see live. The song tells such a story and it was great to see the whole bands emotion right in front of me. I don’t feel like I need to tell you, but if you have the chance to see these guys, please take it. They have so much energy and emotion into each song they play, and it’s honestly such a treat to see. Be sure to also check out their latest release Tiny Dots which has some live versions of songs, so you can get a taste for yourself.

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After a short sound check and quick backdrop change, we arrived to the main event of the night, Thrice. Thrice has been one of my favorite bands ever since I had checked out their album Vheissu on a wim one day at my local library (ah yes, the days before Spotify). Needless to say, after a long hiatus and multiple years of me saying “WHY can’t I just see them play live ONCE??” my prayers were answered. It was everything my younger self could have wanted and more. They opened with a song off of their new album, To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere called “Hurricane“, and I was immediately beaming. I will stand by this until my last breath, Dustin Kensrue has one of the best voices and it translates SO well live. Every song in the set that night sounded almost exactly like the studio release. Now seeing as they have quite the discography, they did a perfect job of touching on their hits throughout the years. The set included “Daedulus”, “Hold Fast Hope”, and of course, everyone’s emo anthem “The Artist In The Ambulance” from the 2003 release The Artist In The Ambulance. Obviously the crowd for this was incredibly responsive, and you could tell that they were just as excited as I was to finally see Thrice in the flesh playing some of their favorite songs. Can we also just talk about how amazing the lighting for this set for a minute? I think I saw every color imaginable for this set and it made my job one hundred times easier. Now in the most completely biased way, this has got to one of the best sets I’ve had the pleasure of seeing. Thrice knocks it out of the park with clean vocals, incredible guitar riffs, and hell even the lighting. Never in my wildest dreams would I think I would be seeing Thrice play, so if you have the opportunity, do yourself and favor and do so. And while you’re at it, check out their new release To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere because it’s an incredible comeback.

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