Editor’s note: It’s Spring Break at Cal, and we’re honoring this week’s heed to unwind by posting our music news with a touch of personality. Welcome to Blog Week.
After falling 36 feet from a scaffold last Friday while painting a mural, my doctor said, “Chris, don’t put any weight on your right foot for at least three months, keep it elevated and no strenuous activity.” My reply was, “But Doc, The Used and Taking Back Sunday are playing at The Warfield on Tuesday, March 25th, and Tonightalive and Sleepwave are opening for them, do you think I can still go?” His response wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear.
On Tuesday, I crutched 45 minutes from my parking spot before reaching my destination. Tired and really beginning to feel the pain in my foot surmount, I was starting to wish I had taken the Doc’s advice. But after entering The Warfield and hearing Adam Lazzara and John Nolan from Taking Back Sunday midway into their set, all my problems began to melt away. TBS’s loyal fan base was omnipresent and louder than ever, singing every word of every song. The band played a mix of their older material and songs from their new album. Released on March 18, Happiness Is has already hit No. 3 on the iTunes charts as of Saturday. The house was packed for a Tuesday night concert and the energy charged hall made crutching to the front an endeavor I couldn’t take on. Lazzara’s vocals were on point and his engagement with the crowd was impressive to say the least. After the last song, the crowd milled out to smoke and get another drink while The Used began to setup for their set.
Frontman Bert McCracken came out in full force, and the place went off; behind me, the crowd’s triumphant cheers turned into full on shouting. With security guards helping crowd surfers find their way back down and photographers running to get shots at every angle, I managed to hop around on one leg and get some good shots of the band. When three songs were up and it was time to get out of the pit, everyone was really cool about letting my crutch through and with security’s help I made it out. The Used played a fairly short set, ending the concert promptly at 1. Considering it was a Tuesday night, the turnout was decent but not where it could be if it had been on the weekend.
Article and photos by Christopher V. Redman