Silverstein starts 3rd leg of 25 Years tour with Thursday in Cleveland

Silverstein’s 25 Years of Noise Tour had already run for two legs and was just starting its third at House of Blues Cleveland — and the first show was one for the books. Not only was the venue one of the best I have been to, but this show was one of the best I have seen in a while!

The first (and most aggressive) band of the night was Sydney natives, Bloom.

Lead singer Jono Hawkey brought tons of energy as the band delivered intense, dark, and heavy sounds. At one point, Bloom fired up the crowd by asking if anyone was into “emo music”… the response was unanimous. I especially enjoyed watching Bloom’s drummer, Jack Van Vliet, as he played with so much force and intensity.

Free To Throw was the second band onstage with a sound much different than I expected. Imagine the vocals of Alestorm, but with a much lighter atmosphere. The entire band seemed to be genuinely enjoying the moment, simply having a good time performing, with several of their songs referencing Pokémon locations.

Free To Throw shows — gotta collect ’em all.

The third band I’ve seen before and know they’re solid, but this time, I found myself enjoying their performance far more than expected. Thursday’s sound came across as a punk-leaning, post-hardcore take on Soundgarden, particularly due to Geoff Rickly’s vocals. What stood out most during this show, though, was the guitarist Wade McNiel’s playing: his tone was very distinct, almost elevating and carrying my soul away. Though his parts often felt independently expressive, the solos blended seamlessly with the rest of the music.

Thursday had adjusted their setlist from other times and I especially enjoyed the first three songs. “Jet Black” was arguably one of the most aggressive songs of the night; I loved watching the crowd sing the words along to the intense, punching lyrics. I was also particularly impressed by their drummer, Tucker Rule, exploding with energy with wild expressions and full focus.

Silverstein closed the night and, as always, they were absolutely incredible.

I’ve had the honor and privilege of photographing Silverstein for two legs of this tour now (the first and now the third), and even after all that, they still managed to surprise me. The show opened with the same from the first tour leg: a video of old concert footage with commentary about how the band originally just wanted to sound different and have fun. This time, though, I noticed the acknowledgement of their fans, saying the band was still around because of them, which was so sweet.

With the recent release of their second album, Pink Moon, Silverstein switched up the setlist to keep this new tour fresh, opening with “Negative Spaces” before diving straight into “Drain the Blood”, “Stress” (which wasn’t included in the previous leg), and “The Altar/Mary” — four straight tracks of nonstop aggression and screaming.

Just like before, they moved backward through their discography, playing songs from across all their albums. Before each album’s section of the set, there were visual clips representing that record: waves to represent their Discovering The Waterfront album, fire for A Shipwreck In the Sand, etc., which was a really cool touch. A few more notable changes included the addition of songs “Je Me Souviens” and “The Artist”. They even added “You Gotta Stay Positive”, which I genuinely thought was a joke, because it’s literally a six-second song.

I had to look it up afterward to believe it was real.

Josh Bradford and Paul Marc Rousseau were especially fun to watch all night. Josh, in particular, had way more energy than I’ve seen before; I didn’t expect him to be that dialed in, but he absolutely was. I loved watching both guitarists have fun onstage together, like brothers. The encore included three songs: “My Heroine” (acoustic), “Shattered Into Pieces”, and “My Heart Bleeds No More”. It being their 14th time playing at the House of Blues Cleveland, Silverstein definitely made sure this night was special. I was blown away. Even as I type this, I am not off the high of seeing these guys! I cannot wait for them to come back and so I can see them again. I’ll most definitely try when they do.

Photography by Kayla N. Rising

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