Thursday
with Touché Amoré, Basement, Wax Idols
House of Blues; Orlando, FL • April 2, 2017
by Jen Cray
When I hear the word “Thursday” the thing that comes to mind isn’t the recently reunited emocore band whose name tops this concert bill, it’s actually the face of Patsy Stone whose Absolutely Fabulous character turns the word into a brilliantly breathy supermodel pout. That’s about how invested I was in this Thursday reunion tour. Still, I’ve been late to love many of their peers from the early days of the genre and usually all it takes is a really great live performance to win my cynical heart.
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While this wasn’t one of those occasions, the NJ band – headed up by the dynamic Geoff Rickly – do deliver a show worthy of the celebratory confetti drop that falls late in their set. Even if the celebration feels more nostalgic than innovative.
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“We’re gonna play a lot of old songs tonight,” Rickly tells the crowd before diving into “Cross Out the Eyes” off of 2001’s Full Collpase. “Actually, all our songs are old at this point.”
Ouch.
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While most everyone else was there to either bask in the nostalgic glory of Thursday, thrash to the relentless post-hardcore onslaught of Touché Amoré, or try to keep the dream of emo alive with Basement, it was early opener Wax Idols who had lured me into the House of Blues that night.
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A darkwave, post-punk modernization of the new wave vibes of the 80’s, Wax Idols invoke the kind of feels that Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division conjure, only with a little less goth and a little more modern age emoting. There’s a melodrama in the mix and in the words, that serves as a perfect balance to the darkly dance-worthy melodies – like The Lost Boys as a band, with Ione Skye as the lead. And even though the stage was much too large for such an intimate-sounding band, theirs was the set that left the most lasting impression.
Click for full photo galleries: Thursday, Touche Amore, Basement, and Wax Idols. ◼
