Thrice performs at SOMA in San Diego with These Arms Are Snakes and Planes Mistaken for Stars

There's nothing like upbeat, loud music in a gutted movie theatre that gets the ol' heart racin', or was it the bass bleeding through our bodies from the venue's infamous sound system?

On Saturday October 14th, 2006 Thrice headlined a show at SOMA's newest location near the Sports Arena in San Diego, part of a House of Blues event.  The show opened with Planes Mistaken for Stars out of Peoria, IL and Seattle-based These Arms Are Snakes.



A packed crowd could hardly contain themselves as music started pouring from the speakers when Planes Mistaken for Stars took the stage and as they finished their set, many concert goers inevitably would agree with Dustin Kensrue of Thrice who said, "I had already liked them but saw their live show and just really fell in love with it," in an exclusive enterview with LA Splash after the show.  PMFS has two guitarists, Matt Bellinger, who also does vocals as background screamer, and lead singer, Gared O'Donnell aka White Chocolate.  Mike 'Bongo' Ricketss is on the drums with Chuck French on the bass, since 2003. 



The night's second group of performers, These Arms are Snakes, came out with a set full of vented angst and tons of microphone swinging.  TAAS consists of Steve Snere on vocals, Ryan Frederiksen on guitar, Brian Cook on bass & keyboard, and Chris Common on the drums.  Their set was cut just a bit short after Common continued long after breaking his finger.  Their new album, Easter, came out just recently on October 10 and according to their Myspace page, it 'was meant to hurt you.'






During the show Snere said, 'This is our biggest show, here in San Fran-diego.'  The Seattle band had a Nirvana-esque appearance, but raged much harder than their home town predecessors, Snere falling to the floor on many occasions. Dripping with sweat Frederiksen and Cook raced front to back screaming on the mic, and during the performance Snere diddled on a reverb machine that created echoing affects with his voice.  




Once TAAS completed their set an intermission ensued but only momentarily as anticipation began to rise for the main act.   



Chants rang out as the moment drew closer and when Thrice hit the stage with Music Box a little after nine, the crowd went absolutely nuts.  Shirts off, elbows bustin' guts, pushin', shovin', girls crowd surfing, fists in the air, everyone rockin' as the band shared favorites such as "Atlantic", "Motion", "Dust", "Idols" and a couple of unreleased tracks, one un-named track and "Come All You Weary," an unrecorded track that, according to Dustin Kensrue, will forever be changed after it's live performances.



About halfway through the set the band sang Happy Birthday to Nick, a Thrice fan who was previously engaged in an auto accident.  He attributes his survival to Thrice, saying that the only reason that he is alive is because after his accident a passing automobile saw a 'Thrice' sticker on his car and stopped to help him.  An off duty fire fighter was one of the passengers in the passing car and immediately broke the window and stabilized Nick's neck.  Kensrue says, "I decided to have him out on the stage and have everyone sing to him."  Nick publicly thanked his 'friends', Thrice, for the life of his six week old child and his own life restored as an emotionally affected crowd cheered loudly. 



Part way through the show the sound malfunctioned and the amp screamed one electrifying yelp before the sound was completely disrupted.  Fans picked up the rhythm with a unified clap while Kensrue led an acoustic version of "Stare at the Sun".  As Kensrue later said, "It was a good time, and I'm not gonna let something like that screw it up."
   
Thrice came together in 1997 in Irvine and continues to progress through emerging stages of musical discovery that have prompted multiple attempts to categorize this band within the confines of genre.  Thrice's metal influence was more prominent in the first couple of albums and still remains a part of how Thrice has managed to influence music, but their sound can not be easily defined within a matter of words.



With the birth of their fourth studio album, Vheissu, three vocalists emerged within the band; Dustin Kensrue, lead vocalist/ guitar, Teppei Terranishi, guitar/ keyboard, and bass guitarist Ed Breckenridge.  Although a vocally silent member of the band, Riley Breckenridge speaks through the drums.   The band's lyrics contain references to literature and carry a strong reliance on metaphor that allows for personal relation to each song and to the band.  Forums discussing lyrical meanings fall short in agreeance. 

One concession stand employee at the show offered this, 'Pathein Mathein' (Through knowledge, we suffer).  If fans knew the exact meaning and origination of the lyrics, the metaphors in Thrice's music would be discounted.  Considering that music is an art form and like art it is reliant on the interpretation of the audience to be complete, well, just put it like this:  music lovers left feeling completed.  And sweaty.  And sore.  But feelin' so good.  And like art, Thrice's lyrical meanings continue to develop with each listening.



Their next project promises to be as surprising as their latest release and was described on their news board like this:  'We have started writing and recording a 4 disc concept record, with each disc being themed sonically and thematically to correspond with the four natural elements - earth, air, water and fire. The final album will have somewhere between 20 and 25 songs, divided between the 4 discs.'



This upcoming project, like all of their past projects, will lend its hand in the support of charity, with a percentage of sales being donated to 826 Valencia, an organization aimed at improving the communication skills of underprivileged children.  Not only does Thrice contribute a percentage of their album sales to honorable charities but they also encourage their community of fans to be supportive of the same causes.  Kensrue supported Race for a Cure by staging a special performance with Chuck Ragan and the Cold War Kids for those who partook in the event that benefits breast cancer research and awareness.  



Even though Thrice has the opportunity to play for large crowds they are known to support small venues as well, drawing in die hard fans for packed headlining shows.  The day after they performed for hundreds of fans at SOMA they headed to Bamboozle Left hosted in Pomona to perform for thousands of concert goers who had the opportunity to see over 80 bands over the course of the weekend.

"I like playing the smaller to medium sized shows like SOMA.  It's different because there is enough room to get a lot of people in there and have a good energy but it's not so large that you lose connection with people," Kensrue says.  The SOMA venue is a re-modeled old Mann Theatre with the six original theatres divided like this: one is a small stage now used for local bands; theatres two through five now house the arena for the fans and theatre six is now the large stage.  There is also an in door lounge where drinks and snacks as well as band merchandise are sold and flyers are posted for upcoming shows.



In that same lounge Cinema Beer Buddy set up a projector which plays music videos from bands like 'Taking Back Sunday.'  The current location in SD is SOMA's third move; the old locations were near USD and in Downtown SD starting in 1986.  'The venue has grown double its size each move,' said Shea Small, provider of lights for SOMA.  The venue houses a vital part of the underground music scene in SD.  According to Kensrue, "It's fun when playing in San Diego because it's not the strees of the home show, but a really good crowd."

Kensrue has also been performing in support of his upcoming acoustic solo project at small venues, slowly putting out new music and doing covers on acoustic classics.



Thrice's performance at SOMA ended with a two song encore featuring "To What End" and "Red Sky", the latter in which Thrice demonstrates it personified lyrics, "I know the ocean speaks/ I've heard her call to me..."

http://www.thrice.net 

http://www.826valencia.org/

http://www.thesearmsaresnakes.org/

http://www.pmfs.net/