Thrice/Hot Water Music/Coheed and Cambria

live in Hollywood (2002)

WussEmoRock

Homework, or Thrice?

I am only kidding, I don't even know where my backpack is. To set the mood for the evening, it is a Sunday night at 7 oclock and my friends and I have just arrived to the very small and intimate Troubador. We got there 30 minutes late and ended up missing out on Curl Up and Die, who we had heard good things about from people at the Chain Reaction "Thrice Secret Show."

Enough of the negative, let's move onto, well; some more negative. The merch area looked like something you would see at a local band's show. The bands had nothing there. Well, Hot Water Music had a good selection, but anyone in the mood for a good Thrice shirt, you have 4 choices. In the mood for anything else, you're shit out of luck!

Onto the show we go…

Coheed and Cambria from New York walked onto the stage, playing a mixture of emo, rock, and a small touch of hardcore. To some of you that might be very wrong, but the truth of the matter is they are a hard band to classify in a certain genre, unless you have a genre titled "Boring." Their music was very uninspired, and in a 30 minute set they only managed to play 5 songs (which shows how long each song dragged out for). The music was actually not too bad, but the vocals were atrocious. The lead singer (who has more hair than anyone I have ever seen) sings higher than any person I have ever heard in my entire life, including STD and NFG. It made the music seem like a joke, cause his voice sounded identical to a little girl.
Since I am making up new genres of music tonight, I have another one for you all. "Every song sounds the same." Hot Water Music fits into this category quite nicely. This 4 piece band from Gainesville, Florida managed to co-headline this show and play one song over and over for 45 minutes. Nobody got into their set, with the exception of about 10 people who knew the words and were bobbing their heads. If you are unfamiliar with this band, they are sort of hardcore, with dual vocals. The bass player looks like he should be in Flogging Molly. I know that not anyone on here will agree with me, but this band reminded me of Face to Face live. The only good thing about this bands set was they had energy, and if they didn't have that "talent," we all would have been asleep in our shoes.

To answer my question, I would definitely pick Thrice. This band, with their melodic sound of hardcore and punk, really bring a lot to their music. They are a must see live. During their solos and guitar riffs (which is at least 3 times every song) the crowd puts their hands into the air and instead of pumping their fists, mimicks playing a guitar solo. The band is full of energy, and played a nice mixture of songs off of "Identity Crisis" and "Illusion of Safety." Ending with "T&C" and beginning with "Kill me Quickly," this was a show that could not be missed.

I am dissapointed I missed the opening band, but if they were anything like the two openers I saw, I guess I was rather lucky. Thrice should headling this whole tour in my opinion, and the rest of their hometown here tonight would probably agree with me. My only complaint of the whole night had to be when they didn't play my two favorite songs, both of which are on their first release, "Identity Crisis." "Ultra Blue" and "To What End." My score is for the show, not Thrice. If it was for Thrice, it would be way above a 10.