Thrice @ Concord Music Hall

Chicago, Illinois- October 5th, 2023

Thrice took over Concord Music Hall in Chicago on Thursday night to celebrate 20 years of their 2003 album The Artist In The Ambulance, kicking off the 2nd leg of their US tour in the windy city. Thrice brought along Atlanta, Georgia noise rock duo "'68" along with them to warm fans up before taking the stage to perform the album in its entirety.

Thrice, nor their fans wasted any time getting into the spirit to celebrate, as they broke into the intro track "Cold Cash and Cold Hearts", as the stage, decorated with red and blue flashing bulbs, flickered and fans screamed the words. This ride had only just begun, as the band smoothly transitioned into track 2, "Under A Killing Moon".

The ferocity in frontman Dustin Kensrue's screams echoed through the hall, clearly feeding off the fans' energy. It was evident that time hadn't slowed him down not one bit. With very few words in between tracks, the band powered through the album play.

After soaking in the first half of the album on the floor, I took a moment to head up to the balcony to view the chaos from above and was greeted by a sea of fervent fans, fist-pumping to the anthemic songs, and a massive mosh pit in the dead center of the audience, as crowd surfers made their way into the arms of security on the sides.

After the band had wrapped up the album play, they treated fans to a hefty assortment of tracks from their discography, one of which being "Motion Isn't Meaning", a bonus track only featured on the Japanese release of The Artist In The Ambulance, and also hadn't been performed since 2008 prior to this tour.

Overall, Thrice brought a satisfying setlist for fans old and new with this show and an even more satisfying performance in general. They were able to prove just how diverse their catalog is, while also proving their expertise as musicians, as they sliced through each track with razor-sharp precision.

Photos by Matthew Aguinaga.