Thrice's show at the Palladium in Worcester was probably the second most masturbatory musical set I've ever seen. If I wanted to see a band jerk itself off for an hour a half, I would have gone to see Brand New. The concert was easily the most disappointing musical experience of my life. I realize that I am supposed to be objective as a reviewer but by being honest, hopefully you as the reader will identify more.

Anyways, Thrice played 90% new material; new material that is slow, boring and completed inferior to their older material. Obviously, having just released The Alchemy Index: Vol. III & IV - Air and Earth, the band was trying to promote the new material heavily and sell records. But this does not mean a band should ignore the songs that carried them to their current success.

The band did end up peppering their set with a few old favorites but I got the sense that they were just going through the motions and weren't really feeling the tracks. "Stare at the Sun," "Silhouette," "Deadbolt," and "Trust," were easily my favorite tracks of the night but as soon as they got rolling, the brought the momentum to a screeching halt with another acoustic jam or piano ballad.

That being said, the band sounded excellent and remains one of the tightest live acts I've ever seen. Dustin's vocals were on point and the rhythm section was extremely solid. But musical proficiency still does not make up for a poor set list with complete disregard for their core fan base.

So, like Mike said to me after, he'll probably never see Thrice again. And really there's no point to from this point forward since they are really just into playing mellow, uninteresting songs. It's just sad that "maturing" and "evolving your sound" has to mean wasting potential and letting down hardcore fans that bought your early records and got you to a place where you now can write all the shitty music you want.