Thursday/This Day Forward/Murder By Death

live in Columbia, SC (2003)

colin smith

Rival Schools was supposed to play this show and they didn't. Thursday's set was cut short due to Geoff's recent bout with exhaustion. And it still kicked major ass.

The venue was the New Brookland Tavern in Columbia, SC. A small place with a bar, a stage, and a relatively small floor. This is not a venue you'd expect to see Thursday play, as they have sold out shows five times this size before.

We arrived a bit late, so i only got to catch three songs of Murder By Death. From the band's name, i was expecting a pretty hardcore sound. But this band reminded me of Cursive more than anything else; they had a female bassist playing a large sit-down bass violin, the music was aggrivated and lyrics came second to the sounds. It was a tumultuous few songs, with the last two having only the singer scream into the microphone off and on. However, they managed to make this sound work; not as impressive as Cursive, but very good energy. Definetly worth checking out.

Next up was This Day Forward, who were promoting their newly-released album "In Response." I'd heard "In Response" before and it caught me as being pretty good, and these guys sure know how to put on a show. They were having some serious guitar problems, but still managed to get the crowd going pretty good. This is always an impressive feat for bands who don't have a huge fanbase within the crowd. If you're in to Thursday or Time in Malta, I recommend you check these guys out.

And finally, the headliners. Thursday came out to some funky disco type music, where Geoff was doing the robot. He introduced the band and they tore into the brand new "For the Workforce, Drowning." Now, for naysayers who think Thursday's best are behind them now that they're on a major, they are only getting better. This song and the other new song they played (which I didn't catch the title of) were absolutely stellar. Heavier, louder, more melodic, more screaming…than anything else they have ever played. The crowd response was amazing to "…Drowning." Next they went straight to fan-favorite "Paris in Flames." Their stage presence was amazing, as they took up the entire stage with the six of them. Geoff constantly leaned into the crowd to allow sing-alongs, but he still guarded the mic more than bands like Taking Back Sunday.

Paris in Flames was followed by (in close to this order); Jet Black New Year, Understanding (In A Car Crash), New Song #2, Standing on the Edge of Summer, Cross out the Eyes, Autobiography of a Nation.

And that was it. The set was only 8 songs long, which was the biggest disappointment as it was a killer show. However multiple times Geoff had to take a break to lean over and simply breathe, and after Cross out the Eyes he ran offstage to the fresh air outside. It was extremely hot in the club, and he came back and said that he has been in and out of the hospital lately but they wanted to do the tour just to have fun (hence the reason for the small venue.)

I'd imagine this will be one of the last times Thursday will play a small-sized venue like this and the only let downs were the fact Rival Schools wasn't there and the short set. Each band put on an incredible show and the crowd was amazing (except for some 200 pound kid that tried to crowdsurf). I'll give this show 4.5 stars for that. If you'd like to see pictures from the show (pretty close, I was front and center 2nd "row") just click on the related link.