Thrice, Manchester Orchestra, O’Brother

Newport Music Hall – Columbus, Ohio

The Manchester Orchestra/Thrice co-headlining tour featuring O’Brother  tour made a stop at Columbus Ohio’s the Newport Music Hal.  It turned out to be the unexpected final show due to an illness in Thrice frontman Dustin Kensrue’s family.  While my prayers are with him and his family, I am glad that I got to catch his band live.  I’ve only recently gotten into Thrice due to the buzz generated for their latest album, Beggars, but after hearing them Thursday night, I really want to check out their back catalog.  They combine melodic guitar and vocals with the occasional scream for emphasis.  Thrice comes from the heyday of posthardcore in the early-to-mid aughts, with peers like Underoath, Dead Poetic, The Used.   Thrice’s current sound has a more artistic bent than the adrenaline-filled edge bands of the genre often carry.

I was also impressed by how good the opening band, O’Brother, sounded.  I had never heard of them before Thursday night.  The first thing that will strike you when you see these guys play is that they have four guitarists.  You might think that they’d be overpowering, but the sound that came out of the speakers wasn’t a wall of noise; notes and harmonies were easily distinguished.  I’m interested to hear how their recorded material sounds.  O’Brother also added some flair to both Thrice and Manchester Orchestra’s show by hauling out pieces of a drum kit onto the stage and playing along.  I’m a sucker for drums, so I really dug the addition.

Finally, Manchester Orchestra.  If you know nothing about them, I really encourage you to check them out next time they come to a town near you.  Lead singer Andy Hull is flawless live, and keyboardist Chris Freeman is a one-man show.  I noticed this last time I saw Manchester Orchestra play, but my goodness does that guy have energy.  I was able to meet up with Chris after Manchester’s set and he talked a little bit about how they’ve been on the road almost non-stop for several months now.  He also mentioned that it was super hot on the stage on this particular night.  I don’t know where he pulls all that energy out of, but he brings it.  Every night.

A great night of music was capped off by hiking through the streets of Columbus trying to find where they towed my car.  A word of advice to those who might attend a show at the Newport Music Hall: Apparently, there is a parking garage on 11th street (though we couldn’t find it) that charges $3 an hour for parking.  Also, when the signs say “Parking for Customers Only.  YOU WILL BE TOWED”, a word to the wise: they are not kidding.

Dustin Kensrue photo courtesy of Kristen-Nicole photography: http://www.wix.com/kristennicolephoto/photography

Chris Freeman photo courtesy of Joel Faurote Photography:  http://www.joelfaurote.com/site/

Check out Manchester Orchestra, Thrice, and O’Brother online:

http://www.thrice.net/

http://www.themanchesterorchestra.com/us/home

http://www.myspace.com/obrothermusic

By Alicia Inman