A huge thanks to those that nominated us and voted for us, but an even huger thanks to those of you who have supported us in doing what we do for almost twelve years. I’ve only given a few speeches in my life, but that was the least prepared I’ve ever been for one…ever. That said, it was probably a bit less trainwrecky-y than it should have/could have been. Congrats to our friends/relatives in Yellow Red Sparks, Melanoid, Aushua, Saosin, & Eye Alaska  for winning, being nominated, and/or being asked to perform. Music is alive and well in Orange County.

I’m  so grateful, so thankful, so humbled and incredibly inspired to keep creating.

-riley

Although you’ve probably read it elsewhere already (because the “series of tubes” called “The Interwebs” disseminates information faster than you can cram it into your skull), we’d like to take this opportunity to announce that we’re incredibly excited to be hitting the road this Spring with Manchester Orchestra and O’Brother. We met Andy and Chris from M.O. a few years ago at a show in Atlanta and got along great with them, and since then we’ve been keeping in touch/crossing paths with them occasionally. We connect with these guys on many levels and couldn’t be happier to share the stage with them.

I first heard O’Brother when my drum tech, Jon, played me their Death Of Day EP on the bus a few tours ago. I was hooked instantly, and that EP ended up being one of my favorite pieces of music that I heard last year. Since then, they’ve been a constant on my playlist, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them play every night for a few weeks.

Dates for the tour are here. If your city isn’t listed, we’re sorry. We (as in Thrice, not this particular tour) will be doing a headline tour this summer and will see you then.

In other news, this week, we just finished recording and mixing a cover for a release that I am not at liberty to talk about quite yet. Soon. We’ve also been rehearsing for a show we’re playing at Arizona State University tomorrow night. It’s a quickie. We’re gonna be in and out of town, even though part of me wishes I could hang out in Tempe and lurk around Angels Spring Training for a few days.

And finally, we’re tumbling (?) tumblring (?) blogging (?) or something. In an effort to keep the posts and news you see here strictly Thrice-related, we’ve set up Tumblr pages for each of us so that we can ramble and post pictures and video about whatever we feel like in our very own personal space. That way, the content you get here is band-related, and not me blabbering about the Lakers, Angels, or how some guy mowing the field at the Houston Astros practice facility  is named Dick Raasch; Teppei posting a picture of a pair of boots or some lumberjack with a hatchet; or Ed posting educational videos about lights, and anything and everything Mark Hollis; or what Dustin will blog about, eventually.

Those tumblr pages are here:

Riley: trawlingthegrey.tumblr.com

Teppei: newgrass.tumblr.com

Ed: edwart.tumblr.com

Dustin: dustinkensrue.tumblr.com

Bookmark them if you’d like, or access them via the convenient TUMBLR drop-down menu above.

And that’s it for now. More good news later. In the meantime. Get tumbly and twittery.

Hope you’re all well.

-Riley

What’s this sleep stuff about anyways…
I mean… with the jet lag and all we our sleep schedules were pretty out of whack (going to bed around 5 or 6am) and when you park at Wembley Arena (at around 8am) backstage you had better forget about sleep.
‘Cause building a stage apparently also involves throwing as much metal on the ground as possible in a giant echoing cement chamber. haha!



Quite alright though, it was a good morning to wake up early… hot showers and blazing interwubs were waiting for us inside.
It was nice to get up, make some breakfast tea, and observe the happenings of the world via the metaverse.
Gradually the Long Islanders (Brand New and GlassJaw) made there way to the arena and there was much hugs and jokes to be had.
We’ve all been excited about this show for a while… Good peeps, good hangs, good music!
My worries of another accident loomed in my mind but, we got through it all unscathed… The show was super fun, albeit a really short set.

Glassjaw


and Brand New


had amazing sets as well…

It was a great trip all in all…
We can’t thank Nate enough for his help filling in for Teppei… and for making the whole trip good fun and hangs.
I can’t wait to make our way back out there in the summer.
Thanks to all who came to support us, and live amongst the live music with us.
Special thanks again to Telegraphs and We Are The Ocean!

Love,
Ed

Holy Hotness!



Another rainy day here in Nottingham…
Last day of the headlining shows here in the UK ended with a super fun show, but, it was a really hot one… Everyone was sweating their buns off including the people in the crowd. It was great to see some many people jammed so tightly in there having a good time with us. Thanks to all who came out.

With all the accidents I’d been having on this tour I had escaped this day unscathed… BUT NO!!!!
Being that the show was extremely hot, there also was a lot of wet… and a strip of uncarpeted/painted cement wet and slick like ice. I of course, found my way to it and planted my foot (amidst much movement) directly on it…
On my buns giggling I spent the next few moments trying to figure out how to make my way back up to my feet whilst continuing to play the rest of the song.

Despite unintentional stage moves and unreal sweaty heat, the show was amazing fun.

Thank you Nottingham!

Love,
Ed

Much of the day in Cardiff was spent napping…
Everyone was pooped from the night before. For some odd reason no one could fall asleep so much of the night was spent riding along in the bus telling stories, nerding on computers, and listening to music. So as soon as we were soundchecked and settled in we all found room on couches and chairs backstage to nod off for a bit.
Thankfully backstage also had an amazingly beautiful device to entertain all the bands and crew for some after show shenanigans!
PUNCH THE SNAKE!



The actual name of the game we didn’t care much to figure out… we just knew that we were punching a giant snake that that was cool enough for us to yell it between floggings. Needless to say, it was a great time teaching the snake a lesson or two, pushing for the high score… which sadly we could not top.
I thought I’d take it a step further towards the end of the night with a jumping sort of spinning kick (I’ve been known to kick a low ceiling or to at points on tours past.).
…
Okay, lesson of the day… When doing fantastical jumping spinning kickery, do watch for nearby furniture (ie. that couch). Well… I did hit the snake pretty damn hard… but, also almost broke a couch with my shin! :/



Anyway… Thanks Cardiff for the fun show!
love,
Ed

We sleepily made our way to nearest coffee shop. The morning mission for coffee seems to be a necessary routine to start the day. I spent much of the walk rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I walked up to the door… pulled… pushed… nothing. There were plenty of people inside, “how could it be locked?” Hrmm… I tried pulling the other door… nothing… ummmm… Thankfully a kind lady inside opened the door for me. Yes, it was unlocked… you see the right door was entirely locked, and the left side was push to open! AAACK IT’S ALL BACKWARDS! Haha. Despite feeling a bit defeated I walked in a bit red… I blame it jet lag!
Apparently the coffee didn’t do much to wake me up, as I nicked my hand with a knife, right where I run it along the neck of my bass :/ ugh… what a weird day.

Despite mishaps before the show, it was another great concert. Much loudness and much sweatiness.
Thank you Manchester!
Love,
Ed

AAAACK!!! BURNING FUMES BUMPS AND THE SENSATION OF FALLING!
Yep! That’s how we woke. No big deal though, just the smell of an angry clutch and the parking of a bus on one of the many bumpy steep hills in Glasgow. It was actually the start of an amazing day for us.
The venue “The Garage” was awesome in every way… From the people working there, to the people that came out for the show, it was a great night for all of us.
I think we are all getting used to the cold… or maybe it’s just that it wasn’t freezing inside the venue (Okay okay enough about the cold, I know we are a bunch of wusses.). Really though, this show was great, thanks to those who drove out from all parts of Scotland… and even those who flew from Italy
It was good to see old friends and faces, and hang afterwards. I can’t wait to come back with Teppei again soon. Speaking of which, Nate is doing an amazing job, and has been an amazing friend to have out on tour. I feel so fortunate to have crossed paths with someone like him (who grew up on the opposite side of the US), and be connected by means of music. It’s been great sharing conversation, music, art, and laughs with him. BFFs!

Thanks again for again for everything Scotland!


Here is a picture of a picture taken by a girl named Stephanie… I didn't get to meet her, but thank you so much for the gift!

We arrived in Leeds with the working bus
I had the chance to walk around the town a bit and grab some much needed coffee to fight off the jet lag.
I’m not sure that we were all prepared for how cold it would be indoors and out. There’s something about the cold here that has been hitting us hard even though the temperature is not yet below freezing. It might be that we are from California and there isn’t much of a break from the cold. I could probably use some gloves and scarf.
We met the other bands we are touring with, Telegraphs and We Are The Ocean… really nice folks and they put on a great show.
Our set was pretty decent for a first set on rental gear in another country although, my bass was squealing at me whenever the volume was up and a note was not being played. I’m going to have to inspectigate this tomorrow.
To Glasgow

Ed

We’ve arrived in the UK on a sunny yet chilly day.

Most of the day time was spent sitting in London driving around picking up rental gear. On our way out to Leeds we happened to break down (ALREADY!) and spent much of the night in the dark, freezing, and waiting for a replacement.

Luckily we hadn’t made our way outside of London yet and happened to be right down the street from a nice little pub.

Love,
Ed
–Current brainfood–
Book:
Art & Fear – David Bayles &Ted Orland
Musics:
Mark Hollis – Mark Hollis
Des Ark – Loose Lips Sink Ships
Anja Garbarek – Smiling & Waving
Interpol – Our Love to Admire
The Raveonettes – Lust Lust Lust