The Used Celebrate 'In Love and Death' in New Jersey
The Used is bringing all their nostalgia to their 25th Anniversary Tour. On April 16th they celebrated the album In Love and Death with a sold-out crowd at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. This was the second night of three celebrating the band's first three albums, The Used, In Love and Death, and Lies for the Liars. When this tour was first announced, I knew it was definitely not one to miss. I was able to see them on their tour last summer at the Stone Pony Summer Stage, and it was insane. I had high expectations for this show, needless to say, I did not leave disappointed.
After much anticipation by fans, the lights went dark and a projected countdown started with the words "best band in the world" under it. After the countdown hit zero, a brief video played showing old clips of the band from the In Love and Death era. After the clips, nextcame the band exclaiming how thankful they are for their success.
As Take It Away started and the screen began to rise, the sold-out crowd erupted in screams and cheers. After getting the crowd so excited and hyped up the band played a beautiful instrumental in-between Let It Bleed and All That I've Got.
Throughout the set, Bert McCracken, the lead singer, would talk to the crowd and make some jokes too. He stated that they were playing In Love In Death tonight, then proceeded to say that the next song came off an album called In Love and Death. McCracken also took time to talk about the die-hard fans that have been with them for a while.
After Lunacy Fringe, a personal favorite of mine, ended the crowd knew exactly the next song. At the very first sailable of "Small, simple, safe price" was heard fans new and old alike were yelling along through the opening of I'm a Fake. The last line before the song started was screamed so loud that the venue might have shaken. For the last and most energetic song, Bert joined the crowd at the barricade singing along with them, enjoying every second of the last song of the night.
Finally, as The Used ended their incredible show and exited the stage the final track on In Love and Death started to play over the speakers. A cover of Under Pressure by Queen featuring My Chemical Romance. They did say that they were playing every song off the album.
While at first, I was kind of surprised that they were not going to play anything other than the songs on the album, I was wondering what the show consisting of only 45 minutes of music would look like. Although, by the end, I was happy they didn't play any other songs. Being able to experience my favorite album played in order, in full was an experience like no other. If you are able to see any of The Used concerts on this tour I 100% recommend going. Whether they are playing The Used, In Love and Death, or Lies for the Liars, they put on an incredible and unforgettable show for new and die-hard fans alike.
