Nearly a thousand fans flocked to Hayden Lawn on Tuesday for a free show by recording artists Thrice and Thursday.
The special acoustic performance was sponsored by Hoodlums Music at ASU.
The bands decided to join forces in September and kicked off a three-month U.S. tour Oct. 17.
Thrice and Thursday attracted students with their compelling sound and emotion-packed lyrics, said Steve Wiley, co-owner of Hoodlums.
"It went great; the crowd was great, and we were thrilled with the amount of people that showed up," Wiley said.
Thrice took the stage first and played a 30-minute set as onlookers applauded and sang along.
Computer science freshman Greg Weaver said Thrice had been one of his favorite bands for a long time, and seeing it on campus was awesome.
"My friends and I used to sit around a campfire and sing their song 'Phoenix Ignition' over and over again," Weaver said.
Weaver said reviews are calling Thrice's music "scream-o," but he considers it indescribable.
"When the band has the drums and guitars going, there's so much emotion," he said.
Undeclared freshman Annie Troise said she agreed with Weaver.
"I feel like their music has a lot of emotion, unlike rap music," she said. "This music actually has meaning."
Setting off to buy Thrice's latest CD, "The Artist In The Ambulance," Troise said she hoped to get the band's autograph at the signing session after the concert.
Thrice's lead singer, Dustin Kensrue, said, "I had never been to ASU before, and I was really surprised there were so many people here."
"The Artist In the Ambulance" debuted in July, and Kensrue said the band tries not to have expectations for its success.
After Thrice left the stage, friends and tour partners Thursday stepped up to give the audience a taste of their own music.
With passionate lyrics and amazing energy, Thursday drew the attention of even more students. The crowd included undeclared freshman Nicole Canavan, who said she stopped to check out the bands when she saw the large crowd gathering around the stage.
"Then my friend and I realized who they were, and I think it is so cool that ASU has bands like this come to our campus," Canavan said.
Thursday's lead singer, Geoff Rickly, said coming to ASU was a pleasure and that he would definitely come back.
"It was a nice show, and what a beautiful day," Rickly said.
As far as the newfound partnership between Thrice and Thursday, Rickly said they met at the Warped Tour last year and just clicked.
Thursday's latest album, "War All the Time," was released in September, and Rickly said that the music is a "melodic offshoot of hard-core."
Both bands were scheduled to play Tuesday night at the Marquee Theater in Phoenix and then were taking off to Texas to continue their tour.
Reach the reporter at pamela.j.coffman@asu.edu.
