The Vheissu 15th Anniversary Tour rolled into O-Town Sunday, February 16th with headliner Thrice and supporting acts mewithoutYou, Drug Church and Holy Fawn. Doors were slated to open at 5:30pm and fans lined up early and wrapped around the side of The House of Blues for this sold-out show. After a short delay, the doors finally opened and the crowd piled in, grabbing drinks at the bar and settling in for a night of music.
Holy Fawn took the stage at 6:30 pm with their ethereal bass backdrop, echoey vocals, and hard, bone-rattling riffs layering sound upon sound for a waiting audience. Their musical transitions were hard, and at the same time, there was this cool psychedelic vibe running through each chord. Lead singer Ryan Osterman’s folk music history is evident, but his ability to combine this with bone-deep rhythms and hard rock is something particularly unique to this band and got the crowd warmed up for this unique mix of music.
After a quick stage flip, Drug Church brought their post-hardcore-punk-indie rock sound to the stage opening with “Grubby”. Poking fun at the hypocrisy of life and its challenges, they caught our attention with each lyric. They are unapologetic in their criticisms of capitalism and the overall decline of the American dream, and they use this as a springboard for their art. From spoken word to screamo to ballads, Drug Church captured the audience and didn’t let go. The set closed with “Weed Pin” leaving the crowd pumped and jonesing for more.
And more came in the form of mewithoutYou. These Philadelphia natives have been gracing our ears with their unique sound for 20 years and recently announced that they will be “breaking up the band” at the end of 2020. The audience seemed to know this may be their last opportunity to hear these guys live and joined in full force with their opener “My Exit, Unfair” followed by Another Head for Hydra which was a Weezer meets Neil Young meets yoga punk. I think I just made that up, but it’s fitting and the crowd LOVED it. They kept it going with a mash of every musical genre then topped it off when Aaron Weiss decided to take his frontman show into the crowd – surfing across fans and keeping everyone hyped for the main event, Orange County, CA natives THRICE!
Thrice took the stage at 9 o’clock with “Image of the Invincible” and didn’t seem to take a breath for their entire 90-minute set. This wasn’t my first time catching these guys live – I’ve seen them in a large amphitheater and two festivals, but THIS venue fit them PERFECTLY and their energy was invigorating. From the first note, the crowd knew every single word and sang with one loud, horns in the air, moshpit swirling voice. The namesake of this tour, their 4th studio album Vheissu released in 2005, took center stage and it was as new as the day we first heard it. From “Between the End and Where We Lie” to “Lullaby” every song took the crowd to a new level and immersed us deeper into Thrice’s world.
Frontman Dustin Kensrue shared his softer side with “Circles” then brought the crowd mainstream with one of their most popular songs of recent years, “Black Honey”. Thrice has been called melodic/hardcore/punk and after hearing them in THIS venue, I have to agree. They owned the stage, bringing a presence and engaging the audience in a way that I haven’t seen in their other performances. I look forward to catching them again on their next trip through Orlando.
Enjoy photos of all four bands performing on February 16, 2020 at House of Blues Orlando. All photos copyright and courtesy of Chris Cornett.
