Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming
Last night (2.1.24), Omaha saw the return of one of the 2000s biggest post-hardcore acts, Thursday! The band is on tour celebrating the 21st anniversary of their third album and major label debut War All The Time. The house was packed with many GenX and millennial fans hoping to reclaim a bit of their youth and rock out to the New Jersey quartet.
Thursday had direct support from Rival Schools and the debut of Keith Buckley's new band Many Eyes. I arrived as Many Eyes was a song or two into their set and they were firing on all cylinders. I had the pleasure of seeing Keith with Every Time I Die both during Warped Tour days and when they toured with Coheed and Cambria a few years back. I wasn't sure what to expect from Many Eyes, but I really enjoyed their sound. They had a heavy grunge influence but Keith showed a range of vocal stylings from his signature screams to almost power pop harmonies. While the band is fresh on the scene, they have the benefit of Keith's veteran frontman presence. Towards the end of the set I had gotten a bit too comfortable being up front and I got slammed by some hardcore dancers. I don't know what I was thinking, Every Time I Die has always had insane circle pits so why would Many Eyes be any different? I quickly pulled to safety of the side of the stage. Keith told the crowd they'll definitely come through Omaha again soon and I can't wait. Really great showing from Many Eyes!
Next up was Rival Schools from New York. Doing some research I learned that the band is really a hardcore supergroup, featuring members of Quicksand, Gorilla Biscuits, and Youth of Today. I saw a couple Youth of Today and Judge shirts in the audience. While Many Eyes came out of the gate super aggressive, Rival Schools seemed a bit more laid back. With song lyrics like "Good things are coming our way" the vibe seemed really chill, almost like early 90s college radio. It was a good set, but let's just say there was no circle pit or stage diving. Rival Schools played through a good 12 songs before thanking the crowd for the support. If you're into Pavement, Lush, or Slowdive, give Rival Schools a look!
After some setup it was time for Thursday. I waited at the front as static played over the house stereo. Geoff and the gang took the stage wasting no time as they blasted into "For The Workforce, Drowning" the opening track from War All The Time. I pushed into the tiny space between the barricade and the stage trying to capture that perfect shot.
The front row of fans didn't come to mess around, they sang along with every word and followed Geoff's movements as he screamed into the mic. The band worked their way through War All The Time playing the album in full. This went by so much quicker than I expected. Geoff stopped occasionally to tell stories of touring the record when it first came out, including the time that they were able to spend with local heroes Cursive. Thursday and Cursive toured together in 2002 on the Plea for Peace tour and then 20 years later they did a run of shows with the Appleseed Cast.
Geoff said when WATT first came out he really didn't like the record, "I was filled with so much angst and anger, we really didn't play the back half of songs. Now I've come to love this record and getting to play all these songs again has been incredible". The band played through WATT with so much and energy and ferocity you'd never know the band was celebrating 21 years of this album!
After a short break the band returned for a three song encore including the classics "Cross Out The Eyes" and "Understanding In A Car Crash". Thursday closed with a deeper cut "Turnpike Divides" from their 2011 album No Devolucion. This was a killer show and I'm honored that I was able to capture it. Hit our socials and let us know what your favorite moment was!
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Thursday Gallery
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