Thrice performs at SOMA in San Diego with These Arms Are
Snakes and Planes Mistaken for StarsBy Jessica King and Amanda Steinhaus
(for http://www.lasplash.com)
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.
ThriceA 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.
Planes Mistaken for StarsThe 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."
These Arms Are Snakes
Steve Snere
Ryan Frederiksen 
Brian Cook 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.
Steve Snere 
Steve SnereOnce TAAS completed their set an intermission ensued but only
momentarily as anticipation began to rise for the main act.
The crowd awaits the madnessChants 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.
Fans anticipate Thrice's arrival on stageAbout 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.
Dustin KensruePart 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.
Dustin KensrueWith 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.
Eddie BreckenridgeTheir 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."
Teppei TerranishiThis 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.
Riley BreckenrdidgeEven 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.
Flyers for upcoming showsIn 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.
Dustin KensrueThrice'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/