Thursday | Photo by Sydney Schaefer for WXPN | sydneyschaeferphotos.com
Thursday on a Thursday: Post-hardcore faves turn it up for a crowd of rabid Philly fans
How many people can say they’ve seen the beloved aughties post-hardcore band, Thursday, on a Thursday night? It’s not unheard of, but definitely a coveted gig, and now every single person who attended their show at The Fillmore in Philadelphia this Thursday night can add that accomplishment to their bucket list.
The band was greeted by a deafening cheers as it stepped onstage and went straight into playing “For the Workforce, Drowning,” the first song off of the band’s 2003 release, War All The Time. Immediately after the song ended, lead singer Geoff Rickly thanked the Philly crowd for being there. “We have so much family here tonight,” said Rickly, “so many people here that never thought they would see us play around here again.” Quick history lesson: Thursday hasn’t put out any music since 2011, when they released their last album, No Devolución.
Followed by Rickly’s little speech, the band started playing “The Other Side Of The Crash / Over And Out (Of Control)”, off of their 2006 release, A City By The Light Divided. Fan-favorite “Cross Out the Eyes” followed, a cut from the band’s sophomore album, Full Collapse, a staple in the early 2000s post-hardcore/emo scene; it was the album that put Thursday on the map. The hype for Thursday succeeded the first three bands of the night by ten fold.
Prior to Thursday’s set, Wax Idols, Touche Amore, and Basement opened up the show. The crowd for these openers didn’t measure up to the size of the crowd for Thursday’s set by any means, considering all of these bands weren’t around when Thursday was in their prime; the fanbase just isn’t the same. However, Touche Amore and Basement still absolutely ripped and thrashed around on stage, hype as ever, just as Thursday did back in the early 2000s, and as they did on Thursday night in Philly.
Wax Idols, the girl power band that sounds like a modern version of the 80s band, Heart, were a little easier on the ears. The lead singer thanked everyone in the crowd for being there before the band even played their first song. She spoke about how she grew up in “this” time, she said as she pointed to the crowd, meaning that she was a part of the crowd that was there in Thursday’s prime. Check out more photos from the set below!
Setlist:
For the Workforce, Drowning
The Other Side of the Crash/Over and Out (Of Control)
Cross Out the Eyes
Beyond The Visible Spectrum
Autobiography of a Nation
Counting 5-4-3-2-1
A Hole in the World
Signals Over the Air
Jet Black New Year
This Song Brought to You by a Falling Bomb
Division St.
Circuits of Fever
Understanding in a Car Crash
Encore:
War All the Time
Turnpike Divides