After a nearly three-year hiatus, Orange County, California alt-indie-post-hardcore outfit Thrice are finally reuniting. The quartet has announced their first reunion appearance: the Amnesia Rockfest, Canada’s “largest rock festival.”
The 10th incarnation of Amnesia Rockfest will take place over three days in Montebello, Quebec. According to Rockfest’s website, Montebello “is a small countryside village with a population of just 900 residents (and 1,000 cows).”
While it’s not exactly clear why Thrice has selected Rockfest as the venue for their long-awaited reunion, it appears they’ll, at the very least, be in good company. According to the press release version of the festival’s lineup, which the band posted on their Facebook page with the accompanying caption, “See you in June Quebec!”, Thrice will be sharing the stage with the likes of Linkin Park, System of a Down, The Offspring, Rancid, and Bad Religion, among many others. Touring buddies Coheed and Cambria will also be performing, along with fellow Orange County residents, Atreyu. In addition, several considerably more obscure, partially or fully defunct ensembles, will be reuniting for the festival, including From Autumn to Ashes, Rufio, and New Jersey’s finest straight-edge skate punk outfit, Bigwig.
Thrice’s reunion is no doubt welcomed news much anticipated by their legion of fans. Sonically, Thrice was an enormous influence on the alternative scene dating from their inception in 1998. Fans will recall that Thrice was seemingly always a step ahead of the curve, so to speak, in terms of musical convention. Their 2000 effort, Identity Crisis, was a pop-punk bellwether, while their next record, The Illusion of Safety, was tremendously influential in solidifying post-hardcore as a genre.
Since going on hiatus after the release of their most recent studio LP, Major/Minor, the members of Thrice have pursued an array of side projects and other diversions. Bassist Eddie Breckenridge has been active in Tom Delonge’s side project, Angels & Airwaves, while his brother, drummer Riley Breckenridge, has played in a semi-serious grindcore band called Puig Destroyer (a reference to Pig Destroyer). Singer Dustin Kensrue has probably been the busiest of the four, spending time as a worship leader at his church in Orange County and releasing solo albums under his own name and the moniker The Modern Post. Just yesterday, Kensrue released the first track from his new record, Carry the Fire, which coincided with a tour announcement indicating the Thrice singer will be headed out on the road with Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull for a co-headlining acoustic solo tour.