{"id":50932,"date":"2025-11-04T18:16:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T23:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=50932"},"modified":"2025-11-04T18:16:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T23:16:08","slug":"review-thrice-house-of-blues-10-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2025\/11\/04\/review-thrice-house-of-blues-10-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Thrice @ House of Blues 10\/31"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo Credit: Atiba Jefferson<\/span><\/p>\n

Review by Jamie Ko<\/span><\/p>\n

On Halloween, post-hardcore icons Thrice possessed the crowd at the House of Blues with their spirited energy. A decent number of fans showed up in costumes, which made for an entertaining and memorable night. Hailing from Irvine, California, the band formed in 1998 with\u00a0 four high school friends \u2014 Dustin Kensrue (vocals\/guitar), Teppei Teranishi (lead guitar), and brothers Eddie Breckenridge (bass) and Riley Breckenridge (drums). They have consistently displayed their musical and songwriting prowess over the years. Earlier works like \u201cThe Artist in the Ambulance\u201d and \u201cThe Illusion of Safety\u201d gave them exposure in the early 2000s and brought in fans who are as loyal as the band is hardworking. These albums exemplify their fast-paced, melody-driven style and are seen as representatives of that era. The band is currently well into its 2025 fall tour supporting their latest record, \u201cHorizons\/West,\u201d released early October this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first of the two openers was Downward, from Tulsa, Oklahoma. They set a chill atmosphere to kick off the night. The mellow vocals complemented the fuzzy guitars and instrumentals in a shoegaze-like manner. The band maintained an air of mystery as the singer, Drew Richardson, <\/span>rarely spoke to the audience\u2014but when he did, his deadpan humor was undeniable. Although <\/span>they played to a relatively thin crowd, their music was certainly deserving of a larger audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second and final opener was the California band Modern Color, who loosened up the crowd with their punchy sound and energetic presence. Their songs hooked listeners with melodic intros and exploded into passionate choruses, making them impossible not to nod along to. A mosh pit even formed during their set, and fans grinned as an audience member dressed in a Garfield onesie crowd-surfed toward the stage.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it was time for Thrice to come on, the crowd was warmed up and visibly fixated on the stage with anticipation. The band was met with grand applause as they stepped onstage. Kensrue wore a costume, just as he promised on Instagram a few days prior. He donned a blond, beach-wave wig, a cardigan, sunglasses, and a pair of striped, flowy pants, which he later revealed were borrowed and fit too loosely. I wasn\u2019t sure what he was supposed to be dressed as, but I appreciated his Halloween spirit nonetheless.<\/span><\/p>\n

The band opened with \u201cBlackout,\u201d the first track on their new album. It took the audience through a slow and dramatic buildup to the midpoint of the song, where it erupted with repetitive chants, \u201cBlack out the moon, black out the stars, black out the sun,\u201d which carried the song into the next track, \u201cGnash.\u201d Just like the imagery the title conjures, the song has a raw, gritty sound where every beat feels like a destructive impact. It perfectly showcased Kensrue\u2019s gruff vocals. The crowd became noticeably fired up as \u201cThe Artist in the Ambulance\u201d began. Fans sang along and jumped under the flashing strobe lights with their hands in the air, which was a unifying moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thrice\u2019s live sound was seamlessly cohesive and attested to their experience. Eddie and Riley <\/span>Breckenridge established a solid foundation on the bass and drums, allowing Teranishi\u2019s <\/span>melodic guitar and Kensrue\u2019s commanding vocals to shine through. Teranishi\u2019s versatility was especially impressive, as he provided strong vocal harmonies that were just as audible as Kensrue\u2019s melodies. He even sat down at a piano on the side of the stage, illuminated by a <\/span>dramatic spotlight as he played a haunting intro to the song \u201cFor Miles.\u201d Towards the end of the <\/span>set, \u201cVesper Light\u201d demonstrated Kensrue\u2019s ability to channel his gravelly vocals into airy falsettos, which was a pleasant surprise. It created an enchanting aura of mystique before giving into the heavy, rugged chorus, resulting in a powerful contrast. Between songs, Kensrue thanked the audience for spending the holiday with the band. He joked, \u201cA lot of our fans have young children who need to trick-or-treat \u2026 so thank you for ditching your children if you have them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The show was solid proof of Thrice\u2019s endurance as a band. The setlist spanned from the newest songs to old fan favorites, creating an interesting landscape of the different sounds and genres they have experimented with over the years. I was a bit disappointed that the setlist, as diverse as it was, didn\u2019t include any songs from their debut album, \u201cIdentity Crisis.\u201d However, they still succeeded in evoking nostalgia with greatest hits while introducing the fan base to the latest development in their sound. For Thrice fans, this Halloween was alive with great music and lots of headbanging.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo Credit: Atiba Jefferson Review by Jamie Ko On Halloween, post-hardcore icons Thrice possessed the crowd at the House of Blues with their spirited energy. A decent number of fans showed up in costumes, which made for an entertaining and memorable night. Hailing from Irvine, California, the band formed in 1998 with\u00a0 four high school […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25371,"featured_media":50933,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[202,2582],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50932"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25371"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50932"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50934,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50932\/revisions\/50934"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}