The great post-hardcore triple bill of Thrice, Touche Amore, and Self Defense Family rolled through NYC last night (10/7) for a show at Terminal 5. Self Defense Family kicked things off, and frontman Patrick Kindlon was cracking self-deprecating jokes all night about how he knew the band's slow, experimental music made them the out-of-place opener on the bill, but he also seemed genuinely appreciative of the people who got there early enough to see them, and he should give himself more credit. SDF were kind of the odd band out, but they sounded as great as they always do, and it's always nice to get some musical variety in these package tours.

The tone did change the second Touche Amore took the stage, as they leapt right into "Come Heroine," the ripping opener off last year's excellent Lament, and immediately had the whole place in a frenzy. It was their first NYC show since releasing Lament almost exactly one year ago, and it felt like a cathartic release for both the band and crowd to finally experience one of the band's most acclaimed albums to date in a live setting. Over the years, Touche Amore have evolved into a well-oiled machine on stage — extremely tight, awe-inspiring, and larger than life, but still with the same humble grit they had in the early days — and last night was no exception. They kept the set almost entirely to songs off Lament and their previous album Stage Four, and they had the crowd in the palms of their hands the entire time. It was a reminder that this is a band who keeps moving forward, growing their sound and fanbase with each new release. They ended with one song off their now-classic Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me, and the crowd of course went crazy for it, but it didn't overshadow the rest of the set. It felt like the cherry on top of what was already a fantastic show. Jeremy Bolm also mentioned on stage that Touche would be back in NYC this spring, so stay tuned for that.

Up next were headliners Thrice, fresh off releasing their 11th album Horizons / East. Thrice have always been one of the tightest, hardest-hitting live bands to come out of the early 2000s post-hardcore boom, and that was just as evident last night as ever. All four of them play a crucial role — the Breckenridge's rhythm section is thunderous, Teppei Teranishi's lead guitar is dizzying, and Dustin Kensrue's distinct howl remains the heart and soul of the band. (It's also impressive to think they've had the same four-piece lineup for over 20 years, save for a brief hiatus in the early 2010s.) Thrice leaned most heavily on the new album and other more recent material, and they sounded great, but, for a band with a catalog as vast, diverse, and full of classic songs as Thrice, it's kind of a shame that they avoided so many of their best-known songs. I admire their longevity and how prolific they've remained, but sometimes you just wanna hear the hits. Still, there's no denying that Thrice are a force of nature on stage, and — especially after 18 months without live music — it felt really good to see them rock out again.

You can grab Touche Amore vinyl (including their collaborative 7" with Self Defense Family) and Thrice's new album in the BV store.

Setlists and some fan-shot pics and videos below…

Touche Amore Setlist
Come Heroine
Displacement
Green
Lament
New Halloween
Rapture
Limelight
Reminders
I’ll Be Your Host
Flowers and You
~

Thrice Setlist
The Color of the Sky
Scavengers
The Artist in the Ambulance
Black Honey
All the World Is Mad
Of Dust and Nations
In Exile
Summer Set Fire to the Rain
Hurricane
Buried in the Sun
Just Breathe
Robot Soft Exorcism
Dandelion Wine
The Long Defeat
Firebreather
The Earth Will Shake

Encore:
Beyond the Pines
Anthology

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