Thrice at the Fox Theater in Pomona Last Night


Thrice

Fox Theater in Pomona
July 17, 2010

Watch our slideshow here!
Pomona was literally and figuratively the hottest place to be on Saturday. After baking in a brick oven to catch a fiery debut performance of One Day As A Lion at Aladdin Jr, I stumbled across the street seeking the cool refuge of air conditioning at the Fox Theater for a sold out show with Thrice. It didn't stay cool too long, as the masses of humanity on the floor started to swirl once Thrice hit the stage.

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The throbbing bass line of “All The World Is Mad,” from their
latest album Beggars, ignited the crowd. Tension started to build
with the paranoia infused guitars of “The Weight.” As if things
couldn't get any crazier, “The Artist In The Ambulance” forced me to
watch out for the crowd surfers storming over the barricade while I was
photographing the band. 

Teppei Teranishi
worked his guitar magic on the swirling riff of “Of Dust and Nations”
while brothers Eddie and Riley Breckenridge held down the bass and
drums, respectively. “Firebreather” was nothing short of being the most
ferocious tune of the evening with Eddie's Gibson ripper bass clogging
most of the frequencies in your ear canals. Dustin Kensrue was on point
whether he was screaming or covering the melodic parts of songs.
After
the searing post apocalyptic scorch of “The Messenger,” Thrice
downshifted the tempo to “A Song For Milly Michaelson” but managed to
keep a firm grip of the audience. Teranishi switched over to a Nord
Electro keyboard to dial up some Rhoades keyboard sounds for “Circles.”
Everyone started to clap as Kensrue encouraged everyone to move during
“Doublespeak.” Things quickly shifted back into a higher gear with the
detuned sludge of the raging bull riff to “Blood Clots and Black Holes.”
“Silhouette”
had the crowd emphatically screaming “Your Eyes!!” as Kensrue visually
acted out the lyrics when he sang “Slit My Throat!” “Image of The
Invisible” was another immensely loud sing along as members of the
opening bands stormed the stage to assist on background vocals and throw
water out into the crowd. 
For the encore,
Thrice unleashed their cover of the Beatles “Helter Skelter” followed by
the title track “Beggars.” The audience still refused to leave even
though the house lights were turned on. Thrice could have played all
night if the audience had their way. Although Pomona was as close to
home as they played on this leg of the tour, one can only hope for a
proper Orange County homecoming show before they head back to the
recording studio.
A triplet of opening bands
provided something for everyone before Thrice hit the stage. The Dig
reminded me of a harder rocking Helio Sequence. Bad Veins were a dynamic
duo mixing a blend of fuzz and keyboards with a high energy drum
assault. Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band won over the crowd with their
anthemic jangle crunch. 
Personal Bias:
Have you been reading Riley Breckenridge's awesome blog diaries here on
Heard Mentality?
Crowd: A mix of folks
in their 20s to 30s who probably saw Thrice at Chain Reaction back in
the day.
Overheard In The Crowd: The
lyrics to every Thrice song. Everyone was singing along throughout the
entire show.
Random Notebook Dump: It
was a long evening with the doors opening at 6:30 and the show ending
close to 11:30. 
Setlist:
“All
The World Is Mad”
“The Weight”
“The Artist In The
Ambulance”
“Of Dust And Nations”
“The Earth Will
Shake”
“Firebreather”
“The Messenger”
“A
Song For Milly Michaelson”
“Circles”
“Doublespeak”
“Blood
Clots and Black Holes”
“Silhouette”
“Come All You
Weary”
“In Exile”
“Image of the Invisible”
“To
Awake and Avenge the Dead”
Encore:
“Helter Skelter”
“Beggars”

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