Thick, Skating Polly, JessX @ Saint Vitus

by Kate Hoos | Oct 21, 2022 | Shows

Thick at Saint Vitus (photo by Kate Hoos)

Thick has had a busy year and since they just happen to be one of the hardest working bands out there, it hardly seems as through they’ve broken a sweat. They released a stellar new record, Happy Now (read our review), hit the festival circuit with stops at Riot Fest (among others), and toured consistently— both opening for bigger acts like The Chats and on their own headline tour which they just wrapped up with a homecoming show at Saint Vitus in front of a sold out and exuberant crowd.

The line up for this show was unreal, stacked from start to finish with power house artists I love. Local noise punks Jess X (the band) opened and kicked things off at a very energetic pace with Jess X (the singer) themself running and jumping all over the stage, jumping onto and leaping off the drums more than once, launching out onto the crowd and making sure their pogo stick made an appearance as well. (I still am astounded watching them sing and pogo at the same time for a full song, impressive isn’t the word for it!) This apparently was their last show as a band for 2022 but I look forward to catching back up with them in 2023.

The crowd was already worked up when Thick’s tour mates, Skating Polly, the Washington based trio of siblings took the stage and really kicked things into high gear. Song after song, they pummeled with heavy hitting grunge punk “ugly pop” songs, bassist Kelli Mayo and guitarist Peyton Bighorse trading off on lead vocals. Mayo barely stayed still for a single moment, kicking and spinning and thrashing with her three stringed bass while delivering some seriously awesome and diiiirty tone (my absolute favorite kind of bass playing). Unsurprisingly, she finished their set on top of the crowd after telling everyone to “go fucking crazy.” The fans responded in kind, taking things all the way up to eleven. And while I needed a minute to catch my breath after their set, I am definitely already ready for them to make another appearance in NYC.

Skating Polly at Saint Vitus

With the audience now majorly fired up, Thick hit the stage and launched the room fully into the stratosphere. Playing a 16 song set that was peppered with fan favorites like “Your Mom,” “Bleeding,” “Party With Me” and “Mansplain,” they also hit plenty of tracks from the new album including “Happiness,” “Loser,” and “Your Garden” making for a nice mix from their catalog. All three members of the band sing, with bassist Kate Black and guitarist Nikki Sisti trading off on lead while drummer Shari Page does backups on several songs. They were joined on stage for a few songs by Sarah Greenwell of Gymshorts who played rhythm guitar. (She also does their merch and was fittingly crowd surfed to the back of the room to return to the merch table upon concluding her songs.) I must say, I really enjoyed the addition and it brought a nice dynamic to their sound, making things crunchier, while still leaving plenty of room for Sisti’s clever lead lines to shine.

The vibes were awesome throughout (with a brief instance of a broseph getting a little obnoxious in the crowd which was swiftly shut down by Page) and more than a few crowd surfers from both the band and the audience joined in on the fun. They wrapped up the set with a cover of the Bikini Kill classic “Rebel Girl,” joined by Kelli Mayo on vocals and Kurtis Mayo playing drums while Page jumped on the mic for an incredible ending to not only this show but their time together on the road. The love in the room was palpable as the crowd screamed along word for word.

Thick at Saint Vitus

And always the hard workers, at the close of the night Thick loaded out their gear themselves and were prepping for an opening spot for Muse at Beacon Theater the very next day (a last minute addition and not technically part of the original tour). One can’t help but admire this incredible work ethic and want to root for these lovable “losers” and hometown heroes who have made the Brooklyn music community so proud of their well deserved success. Team Thick all the way!

Scroll down for setlist, videos, pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)