It’s wild to think that a lot of the albums I used to listen to all the time back in my teenage years are now turning 20 years old, and I couldn’t be more pleased that some of the bands are even doing celebratory tours by playing said albums in full! Thrice’s The Artist In The Ambulance is a particularly beloved album of mine, and not only did they revisit it and rerecord it for its anniversary (spoiler: absolutely excellent), they also brought the anniversary tour to the UK – so naturally I had to go.
Palm Reader opened up the show nicely. Although I’d naturally heard of them prior to the gig, I’d never actually listened to them for some reason despite hearing nothing but good things about them – and I instantly regretted that, given how much of a good show they put on along with how awesome the songs sounded. The crowd was really into them, and I was actually surrounded by people singing along to their music. There was such a good vibe to the performance, and I loved the energy of the crowd as they moved about to some of the heavier tracks! When the set came to an end, I definitely found myself wanting to dive straight into their back catalogue.
Already feeling good (here at the top of the world, one might say), I felt all the emotions hit me as Thrice came onstage and started to play the album’s first track Cold Cash and Colder Hearts. The band didn’t need to do anything elaborate or over the top; they just gave a heartfelt performance of the music whilst the crowd eagerly bellowed the lyrics back, and it felt good just to get lost in the moment and experience this masterpiece in a live environment rather than through my headphones. I personally enjoyed the simplistic approach to the performance; the songs spoke for themselves and didn’t need complicated staging – just hearing the fourpiece performing the songs so tightly was more than enough.
The Melting Point Of Wax felt particularly stunning, and something about it just hit differently live. And of course the album’s title track The Artist In The Ambulance was a clear highlight – definitely felt myself getting emotional as I was hearing the roof being lifted from all the people singing.
As the album was all wrapped up fairly quickly, we even got treated to a second set, which went down an absolute treat as well. With songs spanning across almost the entirety of their back catalogue, it was a good mix of both old and new material, and the crowd just ate up whatever was put in front of them. The renditions sounded so polished and tight, and I found myself getting goosebumps from the heartfelt and beautiful performance Thrice gave us – and as they wound up the night with set staple The Earth Will Shake, I found myself wishing I could go back and do it all again.
A stunning night from start to finish. Sure, the dopamine hit of nostalgia was fantastic, but it was also amazing to witness the second ‘standard’ set as well. What a show!
