Live At The House Of Blues Review

Released: Dec 9, 2008
Genre: Experimental Rock, Post-Hardcore
Label: Vagrant Records
Number Of Tracks: 25
Despite some interesting arrangements, Thrice don’t quite do their live show justice.

Sound:	7
Lyrics:	7
Impression:	6
Overall rating:	6.7
Users rating:	9
Comments:	24

overall: 6.7

Featured review by: UG Team, on december 25, 2008

Sound: Thrice have been pretty productive as of late; in just over a year they’ve provided us with 24 excellent new songs in the form of their boundary-breaking Alchemy Index project. As if that wasn’t enough, they’re now releasing a double live album from their show at one of America’s famous House Of Blues venues. The focus is undoubtedly on their newest material, and the way they portray some of the songs live is fantastic. Unlikely opener ‘The Lion & The Wolf’ gets things going in a strangely appealing way, and throughout the night Thrice bring their seemingly stage-anxious ‘Earth’ and ‘Water’ songs to the crowd with style. It’s great hearing the unbelievably sinister electric version of ‘The Earth Isn’t Humming’ or the grooved up chorus to ‘Digital Sea’ working so well. The band’s performance is not flawless, not at all, but in many ways this promotes the honesty of the band and proves that you do not have to be technically perfect to put on a showcase of wonderfully progressive music. // 7

Lyrics and Singing: Obviously a live album doesn’t bring anything new lyrically, but as far as Dustin Kensrue goes, his performance is good. Unfortunately something about his live performance isn’t as inspiring as his studio recorded output. In some places he substitutes his piercing screams with uninspired melodies; it may be for stamina and for holding out his voice on a tour, but you’d think that for a live recording he may keep all of the screams in, for example, ‘The Messenger’, one of the set’s heavier tracks. Besides that and a couple of small slip ups, his performance is good, it’s just that something doesn’t quite correlate between what we hear here and what can be heard on records like ‘Vheissu’. // 7

Impression: An immediate concern for some may be the setlist; they played a generous 25 songs, however there is an obvious bias towards the newest material, with almost half of the songs played coming from that project. I certainly wouldn’t complain, but it’s clear from the rabid crowd reaction to songs such as ‘Deadbolt’ and ‘The Artist In The Ambulance’ that a lot of the crowd are here to see older material. It’s hard to blame them though, because as interesting as some of the newer stuff is when put onto the stage (‘Daedalus’, ‘Open Water’) it’s hard not to love the raw energy of their older tracks. Thrice are a spectacle to behold onstage, however something about this live album doesn’t convey that effectively. It could be the reserved mix or it could be the choice of songs, I can’t be sure but I would still recommend this for Thrice fans, if nobody else. // 6

Comments

[TheBassment]

If you're a THRICE fan then you will absolutely love this album and DVD. it is incredible to see how they pull off all of these technical songs on stage, live. IF you're a strictly pre Vheissu Thrice fan then this might not be for you.

[eltravo]

I absolutely love this dvd.

[fli.pansy]

i need to get the vinyl for the alchemy index albums before i get this

By the way guys, this review is of the CD ONLY. Now that I've got the full DVD package, I can say that the DVD is much better than the audio alone.

[reldask]

their new stuff suckssss

[stumaster18]

I love Thrice so much. I bought this the day it came out, and it is amazing.

and btw, their new stuff does not suck. I actually find it better than their older stuff. Much better.

[Imissthe70s]

stumaster18 :
I love Thrice so much. I bought this the day it came out, and it is amazing.

and btw, their new stuff does not suck. I actually find it better than their older stuff. Much better.

I was SO gonna write the same thing!

[Luke200420]

I still like the IOS and AITA the best. The new stuff is different but in a good way. The dvd is awesome. The reviewer seemed too biased towards old-school Thrice to do it justice. Definitely one of the best bands to see live.

[Side Effect]

I saw them live with Brand New awhile back and they definitely stole the show. They are a great live band. Going to pick this up soon.

[Octavarium666]

AWESOME DVD get it nowwww

[Barendino]

Personal I think dustin is one of the best live singer on earth... and I seriously mean that... he can do everything... lots of band can pull that togather on an album but suck live... Dustin's "clean" Vocals and screams sounds perhabs even better live imo! And their new stuff is really good and nice to listen too... I had to listen it a few more times before I really liked it.. but now I'm kinda addicted to songs like digital sea nd stuff

[Thefallofman]

reldask wrote:

their new stuff suckssss

Fail.

[l3xbi]

Water is awesome, fire has 2 good tracks, air has a couple, but earth is like country isn't it? didn't listen to it that much tbh.
Dustin's voice live is epic, I think the whole band is, I was impressed at how they managed to pull off some of the sounds they did live, where I thought most were only going to be achievable in the studio.

[Fabrizet]

i love this. got it as a christmas present and watched it today. great footage(though admit if you only hear audio its lacking) and a great chunk of interviews in the bonus footage.

[delizio37]

what was the date of this concert?

[Locked_Deadbolt]

reldask wrote:

their new stuff suckssss

some of the new stuff is good, but the older stuff is so much better.

[Fabrizet]

delizio37 wrote:

what was the date of this concert?

sometime in december 08

[delizio37]

Fabrizet wrote:

delizio37 wrote:

what was the date of this concert?
sometime in december 08

it was recorded in may of '08 @ the HOB in Anehiem, CA i saw them a month earlier at the HOB in Vegas... i never even heard of them until i went with my friends to go see them...i thought it was a good show

[JChrist521]

6.7 is kinda harsh... i know its just for the audio, but i thought this was a great concert even though some songs didn't have as much energy. but come on, they've been playing deadbolt for 8 years now? it's not gonna be as fun/moving as when they first wrote it.

anyway, great show, i didn't think the review was very specific or well thought out but oh well. thrice is awesome.

[Krimson_Magnus]

This reviewer doesn't know what he's talking about. To give this CD/DVD a 6.7 is just ridiculous. I watched the show and I thought it was very awesome. There are only a few bands that can almost pull of the same sound or do better than the album. I'd give this CD/DVD a 9 at least.

[spartanfan10]

This is the worst review ever. You praise them throughout the entire thing and then give them 6s and 7s let alone that you did it without the DVD. Wow. Thrice is a fantastic band and Dustin is awesome as well. If you get a change definitely check out the Where's the Band? tour and Thrice on their next tour.

[lostinpieces]

biased review, shit review really, fantastic in all aspects this cd/dvd

[lllostmotelll]

Knowing that most bands try to do a live DVD/CD in their home city or state, and by Dustin saying how "it's good to be home", you would think the home crowd was a little better. I only have the CD, but I want to get the DVD, but just judging by crowd reaction, the crowd is absolutely terrible. If you were in that crowd, shame on you. I would have been stoked to have seen so many great songs. Sure, the setlist wasn't chock full of older tunes, but it was still an amazing set.

[axlanian]

duncang wrote:

By the way guys, this review is of the CD ONLY. Now that I've got the full DVD package, I can say that the DVD is much better than the audio alone.

I often find myself skipping tracks when just listening to Thrice and the live ones come up (with the exceptions of Deadbolt and The Earth Will Shake), but watching the DVD is glorious.