There are not many bands who make it to twenty years. Countless bands have broken up or fizzled out in shorter amounts of time, but Long Island natives Taking Back Sunday have been going strong since 1999. To celebrate that milestone, the band recently released a thoughtfully-arranged compilation record compiling their greatest hits, and, in addition to that, have decided to embark on a massive twenty year celebration tour. On Friday, April 12th, the band brought their tour to Los Angeles and took over the famous Hollywood Palladium for a sold out show featuring two full albums, 2002’s Tell All Your Friends and 2006’s Louder Now.
That show was actually the second of two nights, because Taking Back Sunday have far too many great tunes to pack into just one evening. Now, there have been plenty of bands who have done ten or fifteen year celebration tours. In fact, Taking Back Sunday—also known as TBS—were among the first to do so when the tenth anniversary of their debut came round in 2012, and since then that idea has charmed fans and bands the world over. This time, though, TBS were doing things a little bit differently. Since this was a career-spanning celebration, the band decided to play the entirety of Tell All Your Friends each night, but since they were performing two shows per city, a coin toss would decide which other album fans would be hearing. The night of the 11th, fate gave fans the entirety of TBS’s sophomore 2004 album, Where You Want to Be, meaning the 12th would feature all of Louder Now. Many fans would be hearing several of these songs live for the first time, making for an extra special night filled with electric energy.
First, however, the growing crowd was treated to a frenetic set from Frank Iero and The Future Violents. You may remember Frank Iero as the guitarist from My Chemical Romance, but since MCR’s hiatus in 2013, Iero has been plenty creative on his own. In fact, he and The Future Violents are set to release a new record, entitled Barriers, on May 31st of this year. Though it should be noted that Iero is not the only well-known name involved here, as the Future Violents is made up of Evan Nestor, Tucker Rule of Thursday, Kayleigh Goldsworthy of Dave Hause and The Mermaid, and Matt Armstrong formerly of Murder By Death. Pretty impressive. This record follows 2016’s Parachutes, and will be Iero’s first with the Future Violents as a band.
Though fans were only just trickling in to the Palladium when the band took the stage at 8 PM, there were plenty of hardcore Frank Iero supporters sporting tattoos and singing along to every word as the set kicked off with “World Destroyer.” Though the majority of the crowd seemed unfairly unreceptive, the band kept the energy up as their set continued with “Veins!,” “I’m a Mess,” and brand new single “Young and Doomed.”
Iero took a moment to introduce his bandmates to the audience, and then he was all raw energy through “Joyriding,” “Vain Indifference,” and “No Fun Club,” all the while doing his best to get some responses from the crowd and getting plenty of attention from the dedicated folks at the barricade. By the time the set concluded with “Weighted” and “Oceans,” the floor and balconies of the Palladium began to fill up with fans eager to get their TBS on.
With criminally-priced drinks in hand, the crowd buzzed with excitement until Guitarist John Nolan, Bassist Shaun Cooper, Drummer Mark O’Connell, and Vocalist Adam Lazzara burst onto the stage. It is important to note the band’s storied history, which is one fraught with lineup shake-ups and changes, including the departure of the last founding member Eddie Reyes in 2018. Now, though, the lineup is as close to the original as it can be since Nolan and Cooper made their returns in 2010, and each of these musicians seemed thrilled to be on the stage that night. The crowd were more than ready to sing along to every word as the set kicked off with “You Know How I Do” and “Bike Scene,” but nothing compared to the mad rush toward the stage that began within the first few notes of “Cute without the ‘E.’” It seemed as though each person in the room was screaming the lyrics back at Lazzara.
That same momentum kept up through the call-and-response “There’s No ‘I’ In Team,” “Great Romances of the 20th Century,” and “Ghost Man On Third.” Lazzara took a few pauses between songs to tell some lengthy, hilarious tales about the origin of these and other tracks from this record, each one seeming to come with its own story. His natural swagger and almost-Southern accent kept these tales interesting as fans got some unique insight into their favorite album. Between stories, the band decided to play a few songs like “Timberwolves at New Jersey,” “The Blue Channel,” “You’re So Last Summer,” and finally concluding the Tell All Your Friends portion of the set with “Head Club.”
Fear not, because there was still a ton of mics to swing and stories to be told, because Louder Now was up next. Launching right into “What’s It Feel Like to Be a Ghost,” “Liar (It Takes One to Know One)”, and fan-favorite “MakeDamnSure,” the crowd seemed to be just as enthusiastic about these tracks. The crowd pushed, moshed, and sang their hearts out all throughout the rest of Louder Now, particularly giving it their all for “Error: Operator,” and showing lots of love when Lazzara whipped out an acoustic guitar and harmonica during “Divine Intervention.” After the set concluded with an all-out performance of “I’ll Let You Live,” the crowd stuck around because that couldn’t be it…right?
Obviously. Though TBS had already played twenty-one songs at that point, they still had more to offer! Returning for a four song encore the included “Flicker, Fade,” and new track “All Ready to Go,” the epic night came to an explosive conclusion with “Decade Under the Influence.”
All told, Taking Back Sunday served up a massive twenty-five song set, and though they obviously have played these albums over and over again over these last twenty years, the band’s energy and excitement made it feel like the very first time. Taking Back Sunday never fails to impress with their live show, so if the twenty year celebration is making a stop near you, be sure to grab a ticket!
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