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Hot Water Music / Thrice / Coheed and Cambria

live in Cleveland
2002
live show

Review by: Painaxl
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Published on November 26th 2002

In an effort to beat something as far into the ground as possible. I've decided to toss my hat into the ring of reviewers trying to decipher this amazing tours various performances.

I guess I should start by letting you know that I've fallen in love with Hot Water Music and that not only was I looking forward to this tour since it was announced, but it also happened to be my 21st birthday. Talk about a present. I'd heard a lot of good things about Thrice from the other people in my band, among others, and I was certain they'd put on a show.

The first band I saw was Coheed and Cambria [insert afro reference here]. While the afro was astounding, it was not the most shocking thing for me. Upon the first note this guy sang my jaw dropped open. Not in a good or bad way, I guess, at first listen, the singer sounded like a dead ringer for Geddy Lee. It took me a while to deal with that. Eventually I settled in and enjoyed their set somewhat. The singers voice live was infinitely better than on CD, but still not enough to totally sway me. Still, I couldn't help but think of the guts it takes to sound like that and play for music snobs like me.

Next up was Thrice. As I said before, I'd heard nothing but good things about them. They played an enthusiastic set to play the least. Something about them didn't seem to click for me though. Sometimes it seems as if riffs are added to their songs in order to make them significantly different and complex. I'm still trying to digest Illusion of Safety, but that seems to be a prevalent theme throughout. Either way their performance was full of energy and the song Phoenix Ignition is still really awesome.

Hot Water Music, one of my favorite all time bands was up next. My friends said that they had seen one of the guitarist/singers (I think Chris, is he the one with the higher voice?) pounding shots at the bar pre-show. That seemed standard enough. They took the stage in front of a medium sized but devoted following. They kicked it off with "A Flight and a Crash." Energy and intensity were both present and it turned into a rocking show. They played mostly songs from the new CD (which I love), one from most of the old (it's got to be hard to make everyone happy when you have that big a catalog) and kept the intensity going the whole show through.

Two things were nagging me the whole show though. The first was that, like I mentioned before, any hardcore fan of the band has a tough time since they have a load of releases and not a really weak CD among them. I had only gotten the chance to see them before at Warped Tour, where they played a set that was from many different albums, but, obviously, was too brief. Of course, some of my favorites were left out, but I knew this going in.

The real issue that I had was with Chris(?) (the aforementioned higher voiced singer). While I have no problem with a band drinking pre-show, I do get disappointed when it affects their performance. You could tell he was pretty wasted on stage. Everywhere he moved he stumbled and some songs he had to just stop playing and steady himself. His singing on some songs really stood out in a bad way. Overall, this wasn't a huge deal, but it was a distraction. Since Hot Water Music's main power lies in it's mixing technical flair with blue-collar intensity, it came across solid, but flawed at times. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I enjoyed the show nonetheless.

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 27, 2002 at 3:45 PM (EST)
My Score:

i love thrice.
i love hot water music.

=)

Posted by chonkchoners on 2002-11-26 17:27:32
My Score:

i think thrice is pretty good, but theyre not the best thing to ever happen to music. the same for co&ca, i like em but theyre nothing groundbreaking.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 5:13 PM (EST)
My Score:

1) i like thrice

2) i'm not going to jump on the bandwagon though and go "THRICE OWNS YOUR SOUL" just because they are talented musicians (oOo they play technical guitar riffs they must be good, maybe if i act like i know what i'm talking about someone will give me some punk rock points)

3) to the guy who was stupid enough to say the reviewer was 16 when he said in the review he was 21 (think before you type fucknut) - the reviewer must be really immature for not liking thrice, while you're the embodiment of maturity talking about injecting boiling water into his head and watching him die... fucking ass

Posted by FeedMyNightmare on 2002-11-26 15:35:08
My Score:

"Thrice fucks shit up, I can't think of another band that can blend so many different types of music together as well as Thrice. They are loaded with talent"

Well I can tell you this, Dillenger Escape Plan fucks shit up 100x more than Thrice, and Thrice is one of my favorite bands. Anybody at this show see that 14 year old kid pass out and puke all over himself. Haha it was priceless.

Posted by Hubitcherkokov on 2002-11-26 13:10:05
My Score:

I was at that show and I'd have to say I really, really liked your review. You forgot to mention the opener Vendetta Red, but I think you mentioned you got there late. Anyway, they were a really great band. Coheed and Cambria was great, I had only heard the name coming into the show and they really surprised me live. Thrice was amazing and so was Hot Water Music, those two bands totally made the show. I'd have to say that during Thrice though, a lot of the kids with them seemed to be immature 15 or 16 year old kids, which is cool because they're getting into really sweet music, but they just kinda acted like jerks. Oh well, amazing show, great review.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 11:53 AM (EST)
My Score:

When is everyone going to realize that coheed and cambria fuckin blows?

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 11:01 AM (EST)
My Score:

Thrice fucks shit up, I can't think of another band that can blend so many different types of music together as well as Thrice. They are loaded with talent.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 10:19 AM (EST)
My Score:

Thrice IS very talented. Maybe I just don't understand what they're trying to do. It just sounds to me like stuff is thrown in for technical effect, but I think I'm missing something.
So, boiling water, huh? Cool.
Painaxl

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 10:18 AM (EST)
My Score:

I like Thrice, I gave em loads of credit in my review of their new album and the show with HWM. I think the problem is that all of these kids are going to this show, which is for HWM's new album, and are not respecting the seasoned band (HWM), only the current buzz (Thrice). Whether you like em or not, HWM work harder than 99% of the other bands out there at what they do, and no one can deny that with the constant albums and touring.

-sickboi

Posted by evildeadalive on 2002-11-26 04:41:39
My Score:

I like Thrice.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 4:25 AM (EST)
My Score:

you guys are dumb - hot water music owns all. thrice is good in their own right, but don't come close

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 1:19 AM (EST)
My Score:

thrice is good, but they aren't shit compared to hot water music. of course, not many bands are. and no, i'm not a 16 year old and neither was the reviewer. he actually mentioned his age dumbass.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 12:56 AM (EST)
My Score:

fear not, wuss emo rock, i concur that thrice is a ridiculously talented, brilliantly creative, and overall enthralling buncha rock'n'roll mfers.

-chimericalburst

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 12:41 AM (EST)
My Score:

Thrice is awesome. This reviewer is probobly just some stupid ass 16 yeard old punker who needs to get ass raped. OR how about we sit him in a chair and inject boiling water into the back of his head and let him sit in that chair suffering for days until he finally dies.
Just an idea.

Posted by WussEmoRock on 2002-11-26 00:11:22
My Score:

In all seriousness, am I the only person on this site that likes Thrice?

*****Wuss-Emo-Rock*****