Chris Conley (Saves The Day)

Thursday came on the scene in the early 2000s with electric fury. The energy at their shows was magnetic, you couldn’t turn your eyes away. And the music was something new, something special. The way Steve and Tom played entirely different intricate dueling guitar parts was exciting — the notes and motifs felt almost classical in the quiet verses, and then monstrous and chaotic in the distorted crunchy riffs of the choruses. Tucker and Tim were an incredible and powerful rhythm section, with well-constructed wandering and melodic brutal bass lines, and absolutely bombastic primal drum hooks and bashing breakdowns. And then Geoff Rickly was an instant star on the stage, striking artistic aesthetically pleasing poses, with a voice between screaming and singing, filled with raw emotion, and when you listened to the words he was singing he was clearly a living breathing poet plucked out of time from some bygone era when art mattered more to humankind. Thursday helped elevate the underground scene of emo and post-hardcore making it more about the quality of the artistic expression and less about ticket sales and super glossy headshots.

We took Thursday out on their first big U.S. tour in the fall of 2001 when Saves The Day was touring in support of Stay What You Are. We instantly connected with the guys in the band and became fast friends, connected still to this day after a lifetime of traveling the world together sharing the stage. Back then, we were amazed to see the audience explode every night when Thursday launched into "Understanding In A Car Crash" to open the show. It was a sight to see. The room lit up in flashing strobe lights, people everywhere losing their minds in a fever of excitement, the band on fire onstage. And everyone who was around back then, who felt the energy of those songs at those shows, knew that they were witnessing the birth of a band that would be around for the rest of all of our lives. Thursday is one of the best bands in the world, and they have been since day one.

Chris Enriquez (On The Might of Princes)

I would say Full Collapse was the first indication that something was changing [in the emo/hardcore scene], but I still didn't necessarily know or realize how big it was going to become. Thursday took it to another level, because their video was on MTV, and they were on KROQ. And then very quickly, everybody was getting snatched up. I like to think that Thursday should get the credit for opening that door completely; I think Glassjaw and The Movielife kind of opened the door, and then Thursday busted the door down.

When I first heard it, I was like, they sound like Quicksand with screaming, like a DIY band playing basements and screaming mixed with Quicksand, and I had never really heard anything blended that way that well.

My brother-in-law, who was a well-known graffiti artist in NYC, was actually hit by a subway train and killed when Full Collapse came out. It was a very traumatic situation, and Full Collapse got me through that traumatizing time. I saw them play in Long Island and I wanted to meet Geoff to tell him how meaningful that record was to me at the time. And when I went up to him, he knew who I was, which I was taken back by. He said, "Hey man, we know each other. I met you years ago when we were teenagers because I went to Long Island to see shows," and he said I was somebody that he met at a Hot Water Music show, and I was actually somebody that he conversed with quite often, but I just didn't put two and two together that he was the same kid. And in addition to that, he knew On The Might of Princes, so it was actually really funny and we had a really cool discussion. I don't know if he remembers that -- he probably doesn't because it's been so long.

Jeremy Bolm (Touche Amore)

With the 20 year anniversary of Full Collapse now here, I thought it’d be fun to tell the story of how this band changed my entire life.

Full Collapse came out just days after my 18th birthday and within a short amount of time my adoration for them became a personality trait. A friend had sent me an mp3 of "Cross Out the Eyes" before its release so I was on the lookout and counted the days till it arrived. Upon my first listen to Full Collapse I remember being stunned by "Understanding in a Car Crash" immediately but it was "Concealer" that sealed the deal. I was going through some kind of personal strife at the time and hearing the frayed and desperate scream of “if you wanted to change the way I look at you” sent all of the hairs on my neck to full attention. I had certainly listened to my share of emotionally honest music but this was different. This was somehow rawer. To this day that song still gives me the same feeling. Few times in my life has an album hit me like this, but what made it different this time was this deep in my gut feeling that I needed to be a part of it.

Soon after my obsession had kicked in, my just 18 year old brain and limited abilities lead me to building them a fan website. I found their contact was an AOL address so I put it on my buddy list. One day I saw it online so I tried my luck and got a response! It was Steve Pedulla behind the username and I got to tell him what the record meant and that I was making them a fanpage. I asked if I could send them a questionnaire to fill out a little bio for each one of them. I was so thrilled when they did it! I remember Steve being stunned that someone in California knew who they were. Soon thereafter they came on their first West Coast tour opening for The Murder City Devils and American Steel. I introduced myself -- embarrassingly enough -- at a point that I had some kind of Laryngitis and could hardly speak. Geoff was doing their merch and he lit up with excitement when I got the words out that I was the website kid. He demanded I take one of every shirt design they had and a friendship was born. They’d come on tour many more times over the years and every time they’d invite me and we’d catch up. I could talk Coen Brothers with Steve, crack jokes with Tom, air drum along with Tucker side stage and make each other laugh, be asked kind questions about my family from Tim, go on a walk with Andrew to grab a slice of pizza and be amazed at his quick humor, or just listen to Geoff tell the best stories and be incredibly motivating.

Years later when Touche Amore formed we recorded a demo and sent it to Geoff and truly didn’t expect him to give it a real listen (he’s a busy man!) but not only did he listen, he offered to help release our first LP which he even sang on. Thursday took TA on our first big tour as well and really showed us the ropes. I’ve learned so much from those guys and I can safely and confidently say that they are the same sweet guys today they were the day we met. They truly took me and eventually my band under their wing and helped us in countless ways. To have the experience of saying your favorite band did this for you is some one in a million type of thing and that’s not lost on me. Over the years I’ve done my best to pay that forward and have friendships with people across the world I met through the band to try and give someone else this same feeling they gave me but those are some big shoes to fill. Anyway, here’s to 20 years of a fantastic record and a wonderful band.