Thrice w/ Touche Amore & Self Defense Family
The best thing about a band releasing a new album is that you know a tour is right around the corner. What makes it even better is when the band decides to stop at one of your all-time favorite venues. Thrice brought their Horizons/East tour through Buffalo, NY to the Town Ballroom on 10/12/2021 and drew rock fans from all over the city.
Self Defense Family kicked off the start of the night with a slow but refreshing set. This experimental-based band led by Patrick Kindlon proved as the perfect opener for the tour. Kindlon expressed his gratitude for everyone that came early to see them as the venue started to fill in. Their flawless tones made for a well-versed set and added excitement to the atmosphere. We all know that sometimes the best bands are the openers and in this case, SDF was an opening act that you didn’t want to miss.
Touche Amore brought the venue to life as soon as they stepped onto the stage. All I can say about this band is that you need to see them live. The screams and passion from Jeremy Bolm riled up the crowd in a seemingly hypnotic way. A large excitable group formed at the front as fans tried to hurl themselves over the barricade to get closer to Bolm’s melodic hardcore cries. Every person in that front row mimicking back every word to their dark and lyrically pleasing songs. Spending a lot of their set on songs from their album Lament, they had the crowd glued to Bolm’s every move. This set was amazing and the passion and expression from the band were exciting to capture. Thankfully, Touch Amore announced that they will be back sooner rather than later.
By the end of the night the venue filled with anticipation waiting for Thrice to take the stage. The thing that I appreciate most about a band is when they have the drive to explore and branch out with their passion, all while staying true to their roots. This tour was a celebration of that. This rock band from Irvine, California has been around for a while now and their 11th album celebrated that variety. They also are one of the few that have all the OG members in place still. Thrice wasted no time engaging the crowd as they blew through song after song. Lead singer Dustin Kensrue filled the venue with his familiar husky tones and the band as a whole gave a pleasing setlist of variety. Throughout the night Thrice touched based on the strange and sometimes hollow world we are experiencing. They also gave light to music and its power to lead us through our darkest times as well as embrace uncertain things in life. With older hits from “The Artist in the Ambulance” and “To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere”, Thrice stayed mostly true to their newest album Horizons/East this tour. The night ended with an explosion of applause and another realization of how much we really needed a good rock show.
Make sure you catch Thrice on tour this fall in your hometown!