Thursday & Poison The Well ---DV8, Jacksonville, FL (10.25.02)
Posted by Ryan T. Murphy on 10.26.2002
Intense hardcore bringing the energy lacking by uninspired emo.
The second-to-last stop on the Plea for Peace Tour came to DV8 in Jacksonville last night. Plea for Peace Tour is sponsored by Hopeline, a suicide prevention hotline (1-800-SUICIDE). Thursday & Poison the Well headlined this effort to get petitions signed to influence government funding for suicide prevention, with other merchandise representing the anti-war effort and fighting racism.
The crowd was fairly thick, mostly composed of emo kids obviously there to see their MTV2 icons Thursday. A lot of really nice people though, everyone was friendly, strangers were giving me hugs, it was great. The staff were remotely irratating though, the doorman was giving everyone attitude. Then again, he told me to go without charging me, so I can't complain. They also had a guy running the merch table who had to be at least 6'5 and spent the whole show with a hard-ass icy stare. He was fucking scary, even when he's selling shirts saying "No War" and "Fight Racism". The bartenders were a bit of a pain in the ass, ignoring a million dehydrated people around the bar to talk to their friends and try to get laid. Security, we'll get to later. Overall though, it didn't detract too much from the show.
The first band was a pop-punk outfit called Lawrence Arms. The crowd wasn't in the mood quite yet, they were barely even lifting a finger. They wouldn't even bounce around the blown-up condom we were throwing for more than a second.:) More notable about their set was what was going on outside. The back of DV8 (which I think is an abandoned warehouse) leads out to an alley, and it was a pretty nice place to hang out except for one thing: the gigantic speakers blasting rap music. I have nothing against rap but obviously this wasn't too much of a hip-hop friendly crowd and these speakers were louder than what Lawrence Arms was playing. Even though Lawrence Arms weren't all that good (emo-ish stuff, too quiet even before the rap outside started, and just not much to get the crowd moving), that was really disrespectful to them.
The next band were called Common Writer. While I'm not going to deny that they didn't even come within pissing distance of 'good', they did have one thing keeping them interesting: their lead singer was Jesse from punk legends Operation Ivy. The band really honestly wasn't good though. I think they opened with a Green Day cover but I'm not sure. Overall a completely unimpressive set, capped off with Jesse denying me a handshake after I lied & said he had a good show & one of the other band members asking me if I worked there.
Cursive were up next. This was the first time I'd heard them but I really enjoyed them. It was kind of avant-garde hardcore, with an electric cellist & keyboards. Technically it was a really bad show for them, as the mic gave out midsong & they had to resort to lip-synching. Cursive's sound is so novel and original that the tech failures didn't even matter. The cello adds a subtle undertone to the guitar work, the vocalist/bassist/keyboardist has definite stage presence, and their songs have these dramatic tempo changes that make for a really interesting dynamic. I'll be looking forward to seeing them again.
Now for the real good stuff. Up next were the band we drove 200 miles from Orlando to see, Poison the Well. The anticipation raced through the crowd while they were setting up. In my efforts to get up to the front I ended up directly next to the right side speaker columns. With every warm-up bass drum beat that sent a puff of hot air from the speakers washing over me, my ears recoiled in fear but my heart raced with anxiousness. As the band started, the crowd went fucking nuts. They had been sitting quietly with no moshing or anything the whole night but PTW caused an absolute explosion. The band was playing with massive quantities of energy, which is odd for the second-to-last show of the tour. The second-to-last show is usually the most lethargic for any band, as they know they're almost ready to go home & have been worn out, but are also saving energy to make the last show memorable. Poison the Well, though, treated this show like it was the first night. They went through their 8 song set with all the tenacity that you'd expect from the hardest band of the night.
They sounded great on every song, with no problems and great tone for their style. A pit finally broke out during the 3rd song, though it wasn't a proper hardcore pit (no hardcore dancing to be found, not one windmill the whole set). The pushing got the whole crowd involved and surely made for an interesting visual. Over on my end, I had to guard the speaker columns from the pushing, though the 4 girls between me & the rest of the crowd made this a fun task.:) Security was a bit overzealous tonight, as the burly skinhead guarding the right side was getting a bit harsh pulling down crowd surfers and just seemed to get joy out of throwing kids around. One guy got pulled down from surfing and almost busted his head on the floor. Poison the Well's amazing set closed with their usual. As the opening drum beats of "Nerdy" blasted forth from the speakers, the whole crowd screamed themselves hoarse and were pushing and pumping fists hard. The energy in the crowd for "Nerdy" was wildly intense, and when the song culminated, there was a post-coital-like reaction. Most of the crowd was worn out and dehydrated as they wandered outside for a cigarette or to the bar for a drink. I wondered whether or not there would be any energy left for Thursday.
After the Poison the Well set was the best part of the show for me. Well our friend Will went off to go sit with some chick he met there, me & my friends JB an Sean were hanging out with Poison the Well. Sean knows the band & they had promised him a signed drumstick. After they brought Sean his stick, the drummer was signing the water bottle they threw & JB caught. Then he was like "This is cheap, I'm getting you a drumstick." Poison the Well were really cool guys who had massive respect for their fans, and me JB & Sean might get to be on the list for their next show.
Thursday closed and I'll admit, I was worn out from PTW and was never a big Thursday fan to begin with. So while most of the crowd was packed inside to see Thursday, I spent a great deal of the set out in the alley (thankfully with no rap music). From the bit I did see and hear though, the band sounded great. The tone was great, even outside I could hear really well and didn't hear or see any mistakes. I went inside during "Cross Out the Eyes" to look for Will, and there was a pretty decent pit going. The Thursday fans in attendance seemed to get their moneys worth, and I suppose thats what matters. I was there for Poison the Well, so I'm not in a place to judge really. One more song after "Cross Out the Eyes" closed the set and the audience filed out quickly, keeping traffic from getting hectic (which you come to appreciate after going to bigger venues in Orlando.)
The Plea for Peace show in Jacksonville was well worth the 3 hour drives there & back, as we all thought it was worth it. While some of the bands weren't that great, Poison the Well made it a worthwhile show in only 8 songs. If you're a fan of intense hardcore, I'd recommend checking out a Poison the Well show soon.
The 411: A great show working towards a great cause. Well worth seeing if you can catch any of these bands (other than maybe Common Writer or Lawrence Arms.)
