Show Review

Since I saw a flyer for this show late last fall, I’d been anxiously awaiting this tour which spotlighted three of my all-time favorite bands on the massively produced and highly anticipated tour—and after attending the show about a week ago I can’t say I was anything but satisfied, overall, with the show. Though it failed to meet all of my expectations (stage problems during Armor For Sleep, overall predictability of Taking Back Sunday’s set), I can’t honestly admit this show was anything short of an insanely entertaining time. I can admit, however, that putting Underoath on this tour really made an insane difference, and made the show truly worth seeing.

Armor For Sleep, who I’ve been a fan of since their inception, opened the show playing a relatively short set. I’d seen them last summer on Warped Tour and was (surprisingly) a little more electrified by their set choice and stage dynamic at that point in time—which can mostly be a result of poor stage production at this tour. During “Car Underwater,” Ben’s guitar cut out (one of the few times it cut out during the set), and the vocals were quite a bit lower than the rest of the band, which really drew from their overall impact. They played mostly songs off their latest (What To Do When You Are Dead) and showcased a new, untitled song that was less than impressive (probably due to the poor sound coming from the band). Still, Ben’s voice has improved substantially and is finally up to the standards you might expect from a newly major-labeled band, and, as expected, I’m insanely excited for their major label debut.

Of course, Underoath are also one of my favorite bands as of late, and I have a feeling the majority of the kids in the crowd (at least near the front where I was) were incredibly excited to see them. It was all for good reason—the band have really mastered their live stage presence (I think it’s always been quite impressive) and know how to make a deep, strong impact on the crowd. They played a wide span of songs spanning their new album and a couple from their old (though no “Reinventing Your Exit”) and were loud, energetic, and noisy. Once again, Underoath have proven to me that they are one of the tightest, vigorous rock bands in the scene, and I can only hope they will continue to see the success a genuine band deserves. They alone were worth coming to the show for.

This would mark my seventh time (that I can count) seeing Adam and Taking Back Sunday. The most memorable occasion, of course, would be the time I witnessed Taking Back Sunday and Brand New share the stage way back in 2002 (I’m surprised a review isn’t present on the site for that show, and apologize). Since then, of course, the band has witnessed widespread national stardom with the release of their latest, “Louder Now,” the chorus-driven, radio-friendly, heavily-produced Warner debut—and the band’s stage presence, to be quite honest, hasn’t changed much over the last few years. Adam Lazarra still uses the old mic-swinging tactics but has honed his vocal abilities in the last few years, singing more than swinging. The band sounded tight and played mostly new songs from “Louder Now,” and it was on this night that I could really feel the success of the band looking out onto the sold-out crowd who were singing along to every word—and I really could appreciate the band who have practically seen nothing but success since their inception. The band genuinely know how to rally a crowd, perform their songs, and carry a professional stage presence—and that’s why if you can’t get tickets to this show, be sure to find them next time the band comes around.

review by Andrew Martin