Thrice, Mewithoutyou, Drug Church, Holy Fawn at First Ave

A show for the old and new fans of classic emo/screamo, post-hardcore and sub-genres galore, Thrice, Mewithoutyou, Drug Church and Holy Fawn came together and put on for First Avenue last Thursday night.

The show kicked off with Holy Fawn who bring a heavier, sho-gazey vibe to the tour with slow and heavy riffs blended with melodic and screamy vocals. You’ve probably heard this description before, but Holy Fawn seems to have perfected this style and had the crowd headbanging while holding their hearts. They played tracks off of their most recent release The Black Moon as well as some cuts off of their 2 full-length albums Death Spells and Realms which I recommend checking out.

Following up was Drug Church who sped things up with fast-paced riffs and lively frontman Patrick Kindlon, also of Self Defense Family. Hailing from Albany, New York, Drug Church is a prime example of a solid, modern post-hardcore band. With fun and poppy riffs mixed with cynical lyrics that tear down all of the bullshit surrounding daily life, they made First Ave dance. At one point Kindlon spoke to the crowd and applauded the legacy of the post-hardcore and punk legends of Minnesota as some of the most sloppy and pure bands to ever exist. Drug Church’s latest release Cheer was the bulk of the performance but they also included tracks off of previous releases Hit Your Head and Paul Walker.

Next was Mewithoutyou who added an element of artistic and melodic indie rock with a true post-hardcore feeling. Frontman Aaron Weiss’s poetic, spoken-word style of vocals rang out while he danced across the stage bearing flowers. A band since 2000, they had a wide variety of tracks to share from early albums like Catch for Us The Foxes to their latest Untitled release. Mewithoutyou has always been one of the most intense and interesting bands to see live and it looks like they still got it.

Closing it out was the almighty Thrice. For most of the crowd, this is who they came to see. Passionate fans packed the house and got a taste of a wide variety of their old and new material from the classic Epitaph Records band. They played their 2005 album Vheissu from beginning to end for the 15th anniversary, which charted on Billboard in its heyday. They also did some cuts from albums Palms, Beggars and To Be Everywhere Is to be Nowhere. For an encore, which fans had to work for, they closed the night out with “Words in the Water” from their album Major / Minor. Thrice did not disappoint and gave Minnesota their all.