Region: Europe >> Belgium
Event: Groezrock Festival
Time: 2012, April 28th

I was blessed with a solo acoustic performance from Dustin Kensrue (lead singer of Thrice) at the Groezrock 2012 Festival in Meerhout, Belgium. Read more for a quick heads up of the festival and his brilliant performance, as well as a short video clip!

I’m a big fan of Thrice and Dustin is my all-time favorite singer. His voice and songwriting-skills are amazing and the songs usually simple but yet brilliant. He founded Thrice in 1998 with Teppei Teranishi and released his first Solo Album Please Come Home in 2007. Even though Thrice sadly announced to take a break from the music business after 14 years of writing and touring, Dustin will still finish up his second solo Album. The first one was influenced by blues & folk and I’m wondering if he will change for the next one – I can’t wait to find out!

His performance at Groezrock this year was his first ever acoustic set in Europe, making it an event I just couldn’t miss. Groezrock also featured lot’s of other bands I like, so it was a no brainer to go there. I only bought a 1-day ticket for Saturday though, since my friend Mark couldn’t attend the second one. Too bad I missed Thrice, but Dustin was my priority anyway.

We got there in the afternoon and checked out the hardcore band Confession first, sadly Mark lost his wallet at the end of the set and the day was pushed off track for a couple of hours as I had to help him out with some stuff. I got back for a great Performance of Reel Big Fish and was then ready to see Dustin afterwards, observing the area one hour prior to the show and looking for Dustin… sadly I didn’t see him 🙁

The Acoustic stage was set up nicely and fit the occasion very well. 10 Minutes prior to the start, a guy looking very much like a slightly bigger version of Dustin himself set up the guitar and some people already began to scream… eventually, the real Dustin arrived and didn’t hesitate to start his set:

1.) I Knew You Before
2.) The Artist In The Ambulance (Thrice Acoustic Version)
3.) State Trooper (Bruce Springsteen Cover)
4.) Blood & Wine
5.) Hospital Beds (Cold War Kids Cover)
6.) Of Crows & Crowns (New Song)
7.) Sigh No More (Mumford & Sons Cover)
8.) Consider The Ravens
9.) Stare at the Sun (Thrice Acoustic Version)
10.) Down There By The Train (Tom Waits Cover)

Every song was awesome and due to a very good acoustic in the tend, it sounded way better live than on the record or other live videos. I was blown away by his performance, especially the end of Down there by the Train was breath taking. Too bad he didn’t play an acoustic version of Words in the Water, he could have replaced it with one of the cover songs 🙁

Sadly I didn’t meet him in person, but it was still the best acoustic live performance I have ever seen and now I’m highly motivated to record my own cover of Blanket of Ghosts. Hopefully I’ll be done with it within the next week 🙂

That’s it for the quick recap, please check him out and if you try to get into Thrice: it needs some time to fully appreciate the great work they’ve did. You will not be disappointed!

Here’s a little clip of the Event: