Tour Diary: Nothing But Thieves Welcome to the DCC Tour 2024
Nothing But Thieves performing at Pier 17 in NYC
Photos by Mariah Senecal Reilly
CHRISTINE:
Before I discovered my favorite band, I never really dreamed of following a band on tour. I watched those movies like Almost Famous (okay, yes, that’s very, very out there) and I thought that only people who were wildly obsessed had tons of money and time, and certainly didn’t have family or responsibilities could do a thing like that.
And besides, why would you want to? If the setlist doesn’t change much on a tour, what’s the point anyway? I love live music, but I live for variety. Same band, same songs, different city…what’s the draw?
Well, my friends. I’m an adult with a family and responsibilities, and I thrust it all aside (okay, I just left the kids with my husband and a phone number for emergencies) to follow the best band in the world, Nothing But Thieves, for six days. Best. Decision. Ever.
MARIAH:
Unlike Christine, this sort of next-level musical obsession comes naturally to me. My dad was a journalist who covered live music and album releases, he’s seen the proG band Marillion thirty-one times and some of my fondest teenage memories are seeing the band Porcupine Tree multiple times per tour with my dad. However, for various reasons, before 2024 rolled around, it had been a very long time since I had indulged the urge to fully immerse myself in musical fandom.
While I have been a casual fan of Nothing But Thieves since 2015, it was while the world was shut down in 2020 that my interest ramped up with the release of Moral Panic. That album, and then a deeper dive into Broken Machine, were a balm to my ragged immersed-in COVID-19 response Public Health Employee soul. I had never been able to catch them on tour prior, and I vowed I would see them on their next US tour.
In September of 2023, I traveled to Philadelphia to see them as a newly minted music photographer and was blown away. Afterward, I was so upset that I hadn’t gone to more shows, I think I looked at flights to other dates probably fifty times in the following weeks of the tour. I made a promise to myself that the next time they came to the US, I would take a week off of work and see as many dates as I could. And I did. It was everything I dreamed of and more.
Show #1: Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. The Anthem, Washington, D.C.
Photos by Mariah Senecal Reilly
CHRISTINE:
It’s always a guessing game knowing when to line up early for a band if you want to be guaranteed a front row spot. I say that like I’ve done this a lot before – I haven’t – but remember the people who started camping for Taylor Swift a month ahead of her show? Yeah. I called all the venues on our list before this tour started, and their only rule was no overnight camping. So, that left us with little to go on.
Mariah arrived at the Anthem around 8:00 am and stood there blinking, elated to be the first one there, but also not knowing what to do with herself now. Plunk down on the ground and wait 11 hours til doors? Or…go get coffee?
The latter seemed better. Turns out that queue started to form in earnest around 11 am, when we were greeted by visits from Joe Langridge-Brown, the guitar player, and Phil Blake, the bass player. They each laughed a little at the size of the venue – it can hold as many as 6,000 standing, which is definitely more than they can drum up in the U.S., but they were good-natured about it.
Fame is a funny thing - it’s pretty mind-blowing to just stand around chatting with a member of your favorite band, who has opened for Green Day and played to arenas all over the world. But, that’s a nice perk of living in a country where the band is relatively unknown.
I made a point not to film or take any photos on the first night, so I could really absorb everything without distraction. So I have no recordings of the evening, but that’s ok - it was stellar. Lead singer Conor Mason doesn’t ever seem to miss a note or a beat, and DC was no different. One fan from Ukraine brought blue slips of paper that she passed around to hold in front of cell phone flashlights during the ballad “Impossible,” and it made a beautiful blue hue across the whole crowd. It made guitarist Joe Langridge-Brown grin happily up at the rafters.
After such a long day of waiting in line, we were both more tired than we expected and headed home right after the show, figuring there would be other times when we could potentially greet the band members. And we were right - sort of….
Photos by Mariah Senecal Reilly
MARIAH:
When I first decided I was going to go on a grand tour of the East Coast to follow NBT, I originally bought tickets to three shows, and then later, impulsively bought a ticket to the DC date when I found out both Christine and two other friends were attending. After mapping out all of the driving I would be doing, I made the executive decision to fly to DC and ended up on a 6:00 am flight from Syracuse. After seeing Sleep Token three times in the spring, and arriving at a line of ten to twenty people already there when I showed up at 4:00 am, I got to the venue around 8 am and was shocked to see that no one was lined up. I guess NBT fans have a lot more chill than Sleep Token fans (shocker). I honestly.. didn’t really know what to do, was I ready to commit to being line leader and waiting for 10 hours? Yes. Yes, I was.
Shortly after, Christine and another friend of ours arrived and I very thankfully was able to grab a coffee. (Highly recommend going to Colada, a Cuban coffee shop near The Anthem.) After the cloak-and-dagger nature of Sleep Token, I was pleasantly surprised that while we were waiting, NBT members Joe Langridge-Brown and Phil Blake both stopped by to say hello. The day flew by, there was nothing like connecting with other fans in line, and soon we were nearing door time. It was surreal to be the first one through security and to stroll right up to the center of the barrier. My unhinged line endeavor had paid off, I quite literally had the best view in the house.
Bad Nerves opening for Nothing But Thieves
Photos by Mariah Senecal Reilly
I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about the opener Bad Nerves the first night, I felt a little put off by the constant harassment for more applause. When NBT took the stage, I remembered how phenomenal they are live, and was surprised at how emotional I felt. Lead singer Conor’s voice is truly indescribable, and I was particularly struck by how happy they all looked to be performing.
Show #2: Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. House of Blues, Boston, MA.
Photos by Mariah Senecal Reilly
CHRISTINE:
This venue is my very favorite venue. It’s just the right size, easy to move around, and has lots of raised areas for short people like me to stand and still be able to see! I go there often for shows and have seen bands like Royel Otis, Lucius, Awolnation, and The War On Drugs there.
Even though I swore I wouldn’t get there as early as I had for the previous show I’m very, very glad I did. Because lo and behold, around 11 am lead singer Conor Mason dropped by the line for a chat. There were about 10 of us there and we were all pretty dumbfounded, but managed to carry on conversation despite being completely starstruck. He was friendly and genuine, not at all pretentious, and just a very charming fellow. Mariah and I both felt like we were floating for about an hour afterward!
The acoustics at this venue were in my opinion the best of the whole tour. I love Nothing But Thieves’ bass sound, and the deep bass on songs like Futureproof and If I Were You just rumbled right through me in the best of ways. Phil Blake for the win!
MARIAH:
After flying back to Syracuse at the crack of dawn the morning after the DC show, I had a whirlwind of less than 24 hours at home and then headed out to Boston on Thursday morning before the sun was up. I’ve been to a few shows at the MGM Grand right down the street but had never been to this House of Blues. Upon arrival, I was so happy to be in the first 10 people again!
That dedication paid off! Conor wandered by and came over to talk with us. I really like the video series done on his Man-Made Sunshine project and had wondered if he was as genuine and kind as he seemed in those videos. Very happy to report that he is! Christine and I kept turning to each other throughout the rest of the week and going, “I can’t believe that happened.”
I feel like while they sounded great at every show, their performance in Boston was in a league of its own. It was such an incredible moment during “Welcome to the DCC” literally EVERYONE was grooving. I don’t think I’ve ever smiled so hard. I remember looking at Christine during “I’m Not Made By Design” feeling like I was having a religious experience. I can think of no other song that compares to the way that song builds and then breaks during the chorus. I also think Boston had the best crowd, everyone was feeling it and you could tell that the band fed off of that.
Show #3: Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. The Met, Philadelphia, PA.
CHRISTINE: While we waited in line for this show, sometime around midafternoon, a guy kept walking by and looking at us, then passing. Finally, he stopped and asked why we were lining up, and asked if we were waiting for tickets. We explained that we were the crazy fans who lined up super early to be sure we were in the front row. He finally seemed to get it and realized that he didn’t actually have to wait in line for hours just to come to the show. Turns out the band had given him tickets that morning when they stopped by the coffee shop where he works and he had asked why they were in town. Isn’t that nice of those boys! They’re not thieves, they give things away!
This venue started out very bizarre - it had a very small standing pit and a very large seating area, with many levels of balconies, that old opera-house feel. The opening punk band, Bad Nerves, didn’t seem to go down as well for the people all in the seats. But the energy was palpable for NBT, and the band was pointing and smiling at people in the balconies by the end of the show.
I couldn’t help but notice at all the shows, Conor would request that people stand for the last song if they were able. Recognizing that not everyone can stand and participate easily is considerate, I think.
MARIAH:
Out of the four shows, this was my least favorite, for a whole host of reasons that have nothing to do with the music or performance. Very little sleep, unexpectedly long travel times, issues with my photo pass, all in all not the easiest day.
The venue was set up so strangely. Months ago I had purchased a “Grand Salle” pass that said you’d have early access and while I had already been through security and had my ticket scanned, they required us to get the ticket scanned a second time which held up the line, defeating the purpose altogether. I also find the layout of the venue to be pretty terrible for any performance that isn’t fully seated, it would be so miserable to be seated directly behind the pit section as there is no elevation to allow those folks to see over the standing people. Very odd.
Despite this, as per usual, NBT totally crushed it. I found myself weeping multiple times, especially during their closing song, “Overcome.” I feel really lucky that I have gotten to see that song performed five times. It's so beautiful and became sort of an anthem for me during some hard times. One of the things I love so much about music is that a song can mean so many different things for different people, and yet there’s a mutual understanding of its importance.
Show #4: Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. The Rooftop at Pier 17, New York, NY.
Photos by Mariah Senecal Reilly
CHRISTINE:
This was the big one!! The photos of this venue don’t even do it justice - on the roof of an old seaport building on the tip of Manhattan, within sightline of the Statue of Liberty and right next to the Brooklyn Bridge, with high-rises glittering all around. I made a sign saying NYC Hearts NBT, and I think they saw it? I hope they saw it.
This was the show where Mariah finally got her photo pass, and it was such a joy to watch her work her magic. It’s incredible, what these concert photographers do: they pull gorgeous action-filled images of musicians out of not just the darkness but the blinking, flashing lights and red lights and all manner of crazy effects that go on for the first three songs of the show. It’s pure magic, I tell ya. And her photos are always amazing!
Watching the show itself was also pretty awe-inspiring, with the glittering Brooklyn Bridge as a backdrop to the open stage. It felt like a small festival, but in a good way, because we were all specifically there to see this band.
“What a shit venue! I have to talk to the label, they keep booking us in these terrible places,” Conor joked in his typical British humor. The festival feeling made everyone that much more energetic, too - even the normally stoic Phil Blake bass man was bouncing more than usual.
It was bittersweet to hear the last chords of “Overcome” and watch the band trot offstage for the last time on Saturday. But the feeling of being with so many like-minded people, who let music wash through them and let them feel things fully, stayed with me.
I like to think those experiences fill me up and let me take a little of that closeness to emotion, that closeness to my feelings and the feelings of others, with me back into my real life, where feelings feel farther away. It helps me to live more passionately, more authentically, and be more myself.
Photos by Mariah Senecal Reilly
MARIAH:
Against all odds, I got my photo pass sorted out for this show so was absolutely buzzing by the time I got to the venue (many thanks to Sophie at Sony Music). I didn’t really know what to expect before arriving, I hadn’t seen any photos of the venue and was taken aback at how cool it is. The stage is open-backed and frames the Brooklyn Bridge perfectly, which makes for quite the photo backdrop. There is such a beautiful view over the city and I don’t feel like there’s a bad spot in the house.
By the fourth time around I was officially a Bad Nerves fan. They’d grown on me more each night and I legitimately enjoyed their set. Their performance is so animated and makes for such a good band to photograph. Specifically, their drummer is incredible.
I felt the anxiety of a thousand suns in the lead-up to NBT’s set. I first photographed them in September of 2023 when I was very early on in my live music photography career and wanted to surpass what I did then, plus it’s anxiety-producing to shoot your favorite band. It feels like there’s a lot more at stake personally when it’s artists you love. You want to do well so you have this perfectly preserved moment to reflect on. However, once I started shooting that all melted away. There is absolutely nothing like being in the photo pit, sometimes inches away from an artist. It feels like you’re part of it.
NBT seemed to feed off the vibes of the evening, super cool venue, large crowd, and everyone immersed in their performance. The “Futureproof” into “Is Everybody Going Crazy“ set choice is top-notch. One of my favorite parts was after they got done playing “Soda,” Conor stated, “These days, I do wanna be myself. My life is f*cking great,” in reference to the song’s chorus, “I don’t wanna be myself, I wanna be someone else.” It felt really hopeful for those of us who might struggle sometimes with our mental health.
After the first three songs, I wandered around to get shots from other places and got to see other fans, fully connecting with the music. It made me smile to see so many people singing along, dancing, and emoting. When the night ended with the final rendition of “Overcome,” I was hit hard with the realization that it was over. Such an amazing week, with incredible performances and being with so many wonderful people. If only every week could be this fun.
It’s difficult for me to articulate what this experience and this music does for me. It’s like describing what a feeling feels like. It helps me to understand and process my experiences. The intensity of emotion attached to music for me can sometimes be a little bit strange to people who don’t feel that way, so to connect with people who get it is such a gift. I like to think of it in relation to proprioception.
Proprioception is an individual’s sense of self-movement, force, and body position, or knowing where your body is in space. This connection to music orients me as a person, it’s the anchor that helps me to know who I am and how I feel in relation to the world, the map that guides the way. An experience like this, being around all of these individual souls, like little lights around me, that are all connected through invisible wires because of our connection with the music, reminds me that I’m not alone, there are other people out there feeling in the way that I do. We all have our own experiences, but we all feel something because of the magic of NBT, and for that I am grateful.
Check out the full galleries of Nothing But Thieves and Bad Nerves.
Mariah and Christine