Playing a classic album in full for its 20th anniversary already makes a tour extra special, but that was only one of three major reasons that Thursday‘s War All the Time tour was one for the books. It was also the first-ever tour by former Every Time I Die vocalist Keith Buckley‘s new band Many Eyes, who played just one warm-up show in Connecticut before the tour, and it was the first tour in over a decade from Rival Schools, who reunited (again) last year for a very small amount of shows and festivals.
The tour wrapped up on Saturday (2/24) at Irving Plaza in NYC, which for Rival Schools and members of the New Brunswick, NJ-originated Thursday was a hometown show. “It’s nice to be back in the greatest city on earth,” said Rival Schools’ Walter Schreifels at the beginning of their set. Thursday’s Geoff Rickly added that “something about this one feels extra special” and pointed out the many family members of the bands who were in the balcony.
For their first NYC show, Many Eyes played all three songs they’ve released so far (“Future Proof,” “Mystic Cord,” and set-closing lead single “Revelation”) and six other unreleased ones that are presumably going to appear on the band’s upcoming debut album. The place was already packed for their opening set, and they had a good amount of people singing along to the few songs they’ve released so far–the newest and most explosive one “Mystic Cord” really got people going. Between getting sober and ETID ending, it’s been a rocky road for Keith these past few years, but you could tell he was so happy to be getting back out there with a new batch of very personal songs, and it was so great to see him up there and hear his thunderous voice again. As Geoff said during Thursday’s songs, Keith’s got one of the best screams as well as such thoughtful lyrics, and that was fully on display on Saturday night. (Keith also expressed multiple times how much he loves Thursday and how excited he was to be on this tour.)
As Geoff expressed during Thursday’s set, having Rival Schools on the bill was sentimental and an honor for Thursday for multiple reasons. Not only did they tour together back in the early 2000s (when they were Island labelmates), but the members other bands–including but not limited to Quicksand, Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of Today, CIV, and Burn–massively set the stage for Thursday and so many of their peers. (Psychedelic guitar wizard Ian Love wasn’t on the tour but was back in the band for this show, making for the full original lineup with Walter, Ian, bassist Cache Tolman, and drummer Sammy Siegler.) Coming out of the New York Hardcore scene, Rival Schools retained that NYHC power but always sounded a little Britpoppier, and it’s just as fun to see Walter & co. embrace their lighter, breezier side as it is to see the high-speed hardcore of Gorilla Biscuits and the chunkier, heavier Quicksand.
It really felt like people came for and cared about every band, but Thursday playing War All the Time was of course the main and craziest event of all. From the moment they launched into album opener “For the Workforce, Drowning,” the band was firing on all cylinders and the crowd was bouncing around, crowd-surfing, and yelling every word. Having seen Thursday a bunch since they’ve reunited but never any of their WATT shows, it was a real treat to hear the deeper cuts from WATT that don’t usually make it into their regular setlists, and the album is such a classic that, at Irving Plaza on Saturday, even those deeper cuts felt like huge hits. The whole performance of the album flew by without a single lull–they even made the piano ballad “This Song Brought To You By A Falling Bomb” feel as lively as the moshier moments. Thursday–whose current live lineup has guitarist Norman Brannon (of Texas Is The Reason and other bands) and bassist Stuart Richardson (of Geoff’s other band No Devotion) helping out Geoff, Steve Pedulla, and Tucker Rule–aren’t exactly the same band they were when War All the Time came out, but they play those songs with the same urgency.
Thursday ended the War All the Time portion of their set with “Jet Black New Year,” which they said was originally written to go back to back with WATT‘s New Year’s Day-inspired closer “Tomorrow I’ll Be You,” but, as Thursday fans probably know, was instead included on the Five Stories Falling EP that was released so the band could get out of their contract with Victory. (Geoff also pointed out that, in 2024, Thursday are still here and Victory isn’t, as the crowd cheered the band on and booed their former label.) Thursday they returned for an encore of Full Collapse‘s two biggest songs (“Cross Out the Eyes” and “Understanding In A Car Crash”) and one song that isn’t 20+ years old, “Turnpike Divides” from their final album No Devolución. “It’s a song about coming home,” Geoff said, and it was the perfect end to the night.
Photos by Amanda Hatfield continue below, along with all three bands’ setlists…
Thursday @ Irving Plaza – 2/24/24 Setlist
War All the Time
For the Workforce, Drowning
Between Rupture and Rapture
Division St.
Signals Over the Air
Marches and Maneuvers
Asleep in the Chapel
This Song Brought to You by a Falling Bomb
Steps Ascending
War All the Time
M. Shepard
Tomorrow I’ll Be You
Jet Black New Year
Encore:
Cross Out the Eyes
Understanding in a Car Crash
Turnpike Divides
Rival Schools @ Irving Plaza – 2/24/24 Setlist (via)
Good Things
Travel by Telephone
69 Guns
Favorite Star
Undercovers On
The Switch
Everything Has Its Point
High Acetate
A Parts for B Actors
Used for Glue
Hooligans for Life
Wring It Out
Many Eyes @ Irving Plaza – 2/24/24 Setlist (via)
Speechless
Amateurs
Future Proof
Servant
Enough
Third
Mystic Cord
Harbinger
Revelation