New kids on the block, Thy Row held their legendary first show at Bar Loose on an ordinary Thursday 16 August. I arrive half an hour for the show. During this half an hour the basement of Bar Loose turned into a fully packed venue, with little room to breathe and rock. An unexpected turnout for a small local band, but when the band starts their show, you immediately understand why.
The band kicks off with the cover “We Will Rock You”, singer Mikael Salo kicks in a little late and let me tell you, Salo is not lying when he sings “We Will Rock You”. I actually believe they will right from the start. The cover is adapted to their own style and has a different kind of groove.
Looking behind me to the audience, I see them nodding along. I’m not sure if they entirely knew what to expect from this band, other than the two singles they had released before. Since it was their first show, one would expect the guys to be super nervous and perhaps even letting stress affect their performance, but no such things. The guys kicked off the show with ease and showed us how it’s done.
From “We Will Rock You” they went to an unreleased song “Just Fine”, in which the audience finally got to know Thy Row better. Thy Row is plain and straightforward hard rock, heavily leaning towards heavy metal and is exactly what the scene needs right now. No tricks, no gimmicks, not yet another 80s inspired hard rock band because it’s is “in”.
Instead, we get a band with soaring guitars, groovy basslines and a lot of ass kicking. Proof of that is the first single the band released “Hidebound”, I spot some smiles, I spot some people headbanging, I think it’s safe to say the audience approves.
The band takes us next to “Beyond Reason”, we get the first glimpse into what the next single will sound like. The song is perhaps a bit more mellow, but again powerful. The setlist so far has shown different sides of the band. A definite highlight is the latest single of the band and also the last song of the evening “The Round”. Singer Mikael Salo asks the audience one last time to sing along and the crowd responds with a clear “Fly High”.
I’ve been to many first shows, I’ve been to many last ones. But this definitely was a damn good start for an up and coming band. This is translated already by the fact that so many people showed up to see the band play live for the first time. All-in-all I had a blast watching the guys play live. They dominated the small stage and won over every inch of the venue. The only thing I can complain about is that those five songs were too little.
Setlist1. We Will Rock You (Queen Cover)2. Just Fine3. Hidebound4. Beyond Reason5. The Round
