Thrice played 'The Artist In The Ambulance' in full for its 20th at a remarkable T5 show (review)

June 2, 2023

I say it every time I see them, but Thrice remain the tightest live band in 2000s emo. They’ve been the same four-headed monster since 1999–vocalist/guitarist Dustin Kensrue, guitarist Teppei Teranishi, and brothers Eddie and Riley Breckenridge on bass and drums–and they’re one of those bands where each member is as noticeably crucial as the next. Dustin is the band’s heart and soul, Teppei is a master shredder but always puts melody and songcraft before technicality, Eddie’s amp-rattling basslines and backing screams give Thrice their thunder, and Riley’s drumming has the perfect mix of pure attack and molasses-smooth fills. They’re great songwriters, great musicians, and their chemistry on stage is truly next level. When they hit something like the staccato booms at the end of “Under A Killing Moon,” or the onslaught of mosh parts in “Silhouette,” it’s almost hard to believe four different people are playing together. As a unit, they’ve got the precision of a single metronome, and the liveliness that only actual humans can produce.

This all came across when Thrice landed at NYC’s Terminal 5 on Thursday night (6/1) on their The Artist In The Ambulance 20th anniversary tour, which finds them playing the classic album in full. I know some people knock album anniversary tours as a way of cashing in on nostalgia, but that’s not what this felt like at all. For Thrice in particular, this is the third full-album run they’ve done in recent memory (they did The Illusion of Safety for its 20th last year and they did Vheissu for its 15th right before COVID), in the midst of continuing to hone their craft and put out impactful new records, and there’s a lot more to gain from these runs than just reliving the past. It gives Thrice an opportunity to play some songs that they haven’t played in years, including some that have only been played live a few times ever, as well as present The Artist In The Ambulance as the cohesive work of art that it’s always been. Thrice didn’t seem like they were using the album as a crutch to sell more tickets; they seemed genuinely grateful that people wanted to come out and see them play an album they wrote 20 years ago, and they played these classic songs with the same urgency they had when they celebrated their latest album at Terminal 5 two years ago.

It’s also worth noting that The Artist In The Ambulance sounds as fresh today as it did 20 years ago, and that goes for the original album, the performance last night, and the guest-filled, re-recorded version that they put out earlier this year. Not every band can say that about a 20-year-old album, but Thrice absolutely can. The timing of their popularity got them lumped in with the emo/post-hardcore boom of the early 2000s, but Thrice never followed trends and The Artist In The Ambulance is a great example of that. Thrice had/have the chops and the fury to flirt with thrash, sludge, and metalcore, and that crisp intensity came through last night when songs like “Under A Killing Moon,” “Silhouette,” “Paper Tigers,” and “Blood Clots and Black Holes” incited some pretty rowdy mosh pits. At the same time, Thrice know the power of a good pop song, and “All That’s Left,” “Stare At The Sun,” and “The Artist In The Ambulance” incited singalongs loud enough to rival your local Emo Nite. Thrice were always somewhere in the middle of everything–they were too poppy to be metal, too aggressive to be pop punk–and I think that’s a big part of why they’ve been able to progress so naturally and why their older music still holds up so well. This album may be tied to a specific moment in pop culture for many people, but Thrice have always been on their own path, and that was clearer than ever as they performed this record in full.

After finishing Artist, Thrice played a second set that began with Artist-era rarity “Motion Isn’t Meaning” and also included two of the Illusion of Safety deep cuts that they dusted off for last year’s 20th anniversary shows, “The Red Death” and “Where Idols Once Stood.” They also played other songs from throughout the past 20 years of their career, as yet another reminder that Thrice are still in it for the long haul. And during the encore, we got a genuinely cool cover of The Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” which, according to Setlist.fm, had only been played once in 2010 before this tour.

Thrice also used this tour as another opportunity to bring out a younger band that they’ve long been big supporters of, Holy Fawn, who were clearly grateful for the opportunity and referred to The Artist In The Ambulance as one of the greatest albums of all time. They played some tracks off last year’s great Dimensional Bleed, as well as a few earlier cuts, and their mix of black metal, post-rock, post-hardcore, and art pop sounded absolutely towering in a live setting. If you’re catching one of the upcoming dates of this tour, make sure you get there on time for Holy Fawn.

Check out some fan-shot videos of Thrice (by @tygothcore666) and the full setlist below…

Thrice @ Terminal 5 – 6/1/23 Setlist
Cold Cash and Colder Hearts
Under a Killing Moon
All That’s Left
Silhouette
Stare at the Sun
Paper Tigers
Hoods on Peregrine
The Melting Point of Wax
Blood Clots and Black Holes
The Artist in the Ambulance
The Abolition of Man
Don’t Tell and We Won’t Ask
Motion Isn’t Meaning
Summer Set Fire to the Rain
Black Honey
Where Idols Once Stood
The Red Death
The Weight
Yellow Belly
The Earth Will Shake