Chicago is so nice, you have to visit twice. At least, that’s what emo legends The Used did for their three albums, three nights tour, playing two full weekends bookending April at the House of Blues. The residencies of the self-proclaimed “best band in the world” featured them spending one night each playing their self titled debut album, In Love and Death, and Lies for the Liars. I got to witness the first night of their second Chicago weekend.
The set opened with a video projected on a gigantic white sheet, showing the band’s humble beginnings around the time of the release of The Used in 2002. A long haired Bert McCracken and a baby-faced Jepha Howard smiled from grainy videos on an old TV before the curtain was yanked away so that a short haired Bert and a beautiful, mulleted Jepha wearing a keffiyeh could launch into the album opener, “Maybe Memories”. The four piece band, also composed of drummer Dan Whitesides and guitarist Joey Bradford, effortlessly hyped up the screaming sold-out room of fans both new and old. “The Taste of Ink” being the second song on the setlist and also the most popular song in The Used’s entire discography set a particularly amazing tone for the rest of the show. The energy of every single person screaming “It’s four o’clock in the FUCKING morning!” could power every electrical outlet in the House of Blues.
At Bert’s demand, a circle pit opened for “Say Days Ago” and continued for most of the rest of the show, with crowd surfers flying towards the stage at regular intervals, especially for crowd favorites like “A Box Full of Sharp Objects”. One of my favorite songs of the show was “On My Own”, a special stripped-down acoustic moment with only Bert and Joey. It was a tender way for the crowd to pause and breathe and savor the night before returning to the sweaty pushing and shoving of the mosh pit.
“We’ve been an emo band for 25 years! We never broke up, we never took a break, we’ve been here the whole fucking time!” Bert proudly proclaimed before launching into the final song of the night, the hidden track “Choke Me”. With one opening band, and playing only one album lasting 47 minutes plus a single hidden track, I was expecting the night to fly by, and in the grand scheme, it did. I was seated for an after-show burger by 9:30 pm. But in the moment, it felt more than beefy enough, and the room left satisfied and buzzing, especially since most were there to witness the whole weekend of album plays. This night was more than just an album show, it was a true celebration of how far The Used has come, and how far they can still go. They have another exciting 25 years in front of them.
Get tickets for the rest of the 3 nights 3 albums tour here.
All photos courtesy of Madi Jay for Honorable Mention Magazine
