Last night was our first show in (over) a month! We’ve been waiting anxiously for the Taking Back Sunday/The Used co-headlining our for months, and it was completely worth it.
We’re not huge fans of The Used, but we do love TBS, a love that grew three times when they released their most recent album, Happiness Is in March. Just one listen to the lead single, “Flicker, Fade”, and you can probably see (well, hear), why we were so excited.
You live your life like you’re not in control, like you’re playing a role…
The first band was Sleepwave, headed by Spencer Chamberlain formerly of Underoath. I say that like I know what I’m talking about, but I’ve never heard Sleepwave before last night and I think I’ve only heard a handful of Underoath songs. They were your standard post-hardcore band, but I was a little jealous of their luxurious hair.
Next was Tonight Alive, who we last saw opening for You Me At Six in October (Jenna wrongfully said that they haven’t been back since Warped and I was all “LIES! YOU WERE HERE SIX MONTHS AGO!”). They are very fun live, and I basically want to be Jenna because she is fantastic.
I might have posted this song last time, but it’s just so good.
As I mentioned, we’re not big fans of The Used, but their set was also great. The few songs I recognized sounded great live, even though Bert McCracken (or, “The McCracken”, as we like to call him) scares me a little bit. Although, we met The Used (and Taking Back Sunday) on Monday at HMV, and he seems like a nice, albeit intense, person. The sound seemed a bit off, otherwise they were enjoyable.
Taking Back Sunday came out at 10pm, and we lost our minds.
Mark, Adam, Eddie, John, Shaun.
Most of the setlist came from the latest album, Happiness Is, as well as 2002’s Tell All Your Friends (their debut album) and 2006’s Louder Now. There was a handful of songs from their three other albums (2004’s Where You Want To Be, 2009’s New Again, and 2011’s self-titled), but, since they were the closing band, they threw in a couple of songs they weren’t originally planning on playing.
The band was very energetic and kept the crowd moving. Adam Lazzara is unexpectedly funny – I remembered that from the last time we saw them, but it’s still always a pleasant surprise. For example, he paused halfway through a sentence and sarcastically said “I’ll just wait here until this guy stops texting. I don’t want to interrupt.” TBS tends to be quite vocal about their disdain for people focusing on on their phones instead of on the live show, but since I agree with the sentiment, it’s funny to watch people being called out.
We screamed and danced through most of the set, but the highlight – for me, and, I think, for Ro – was the last three songs: “Flicker, Fade”, “Cute Without the ‘E'”, and, my personal favourite, “Make Damn Sure”.
You’ve got this new head filled up with smoke…
The last time we saw TBS – 2011 – (well, technically, Ro saw them at Warped ’12, but I was on the other side of the grounds waiting for You Me At Six – the only time I’ll ever be front row for them) – it was their first tour with the original line-up (there were a few dark years between TAYF and the self-titled when John and Shaun left to form Straylight Run), and, while they sounded good musically, Adam’s voice wasn’t that fantastic. This time, they really brought their A-game. My only regret is that I had to hold my jacket the whole time, otherwise there would have been a lot more flailing.
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