The Used Pours Their Hearts Out Night 1 in New Jersey

It’s been 25 years since emo heavyweights The Used burst onto the scene. Still going strong, the band decided to do something special for this current tour. Each city they played would get a 3 night stint, each night a different record played in full — The Used (self-titled), In Love and Death, and Lies For The Liars. Singer Bert McCracken said it best in a press release: “These first three records are what put The Used on the map. I can’t wait to experience the joy in playing all three records from front to back. I know it will be an amazing time. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” What a time. I was able to cover the first 2 nights when the band came to Starland Ballroom last week.

Each night the band has a different band opening up for them. On night 1, Family Dinner opened up the show. Hailing from Long Island, this female-led 5 piece brought so much energy to their set. They managed to pack 9 songs into a cool 35 minutes. Singer Natalie Simonelli did a fantastic job of leading the band through songs like “You’re So Cool,” “Revenge Dress,” “God Looks Out For Fools” and more. Their post grunge sound really had the crowd dancing and warmed up for The Used.

During the intermission, a white curtain rose on the stage. Shortly afterwards, a projector started playing a video on the screen to introduce “the best band in the world.” Video and audio clips played with old footage, discussing the band’s history. As the videos played, bright lights started flashing and you could see the band behind the curtain waiting to burst out on stage. A few moments later, the curtain dropped and the band kicked into “Maybe Memories” — track one from their self titled record. After the song McCracken stepped to the front of the stage to say hello to everyone, a huge smile spread across his face.

Everyone in the audience knew what they were here to see: The Used playing their first record front to back. The band did just that, in chronological order. McCracken, backed by Jeph Howard on bass, Dan Whitesides on drums, and Joey Bradford on guitar, looked like they were having the best time playing for an absolutely sold out Starland Ballroom. Songs like “Taste of Ink,” “Buried Myself Alive,” and “Blue And Yellow” sounded so good for 2,500 people singing it back. “A Box Full of Sharp Objects” shifted into a cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and the crowd surfing kicked into a higher gear, somehow. Eventually after playing “On My Own” the band left the stage, but after a minute they came back to finish the show out with “Pieces Mended” and the hidden track, “Choke Me.”

I know that it was the first of 3 nights for The Used, but they definitely didn’t “save anything for later.” They left it all out onstage and all the fans knew that they had witnessed something incredible once night one concluded.