Hello lovely followers! Happy Monday! I hope you’re all having a good start to your week, I know this week will be better than last. Although I’m still recovering from a weekend of intensity! Today I’m posting about my Saturday night when I went to see The Used for their 15 year anniversary tour of their self titled album, and In Love and Death.

This was definitely a night I will remember.
I still can’t believe it’s been 15 years!

The Used
The Danforth Music Hall
Saturday, September 10, 2016

I don’t even know how to start this post because this concert I feel changed me, maybe that’s a bit extreme to say, but I’ve never felt so happy and inspired after a concert. Bert McCracken has this way of uplifting his audience to new highs, despite telling the crowd to smoke a dooby, he’s a very positive person.

So the night started with their opening act; New Language, a band who were quite punk. They entertained us with their music for 45 minutes and then things started happening. The lights stayed off because the party was just getting started. 90s music started playing and it truly kept us entertained for almost an hour. It got crazy when they started playing Backstreet Boys and it turned into a full on singalong; probably the best singalong I’ve had. It’s funny I went to see The Used (a punk band) and we sing Backstreet Boys, a complete pop band, what are the odds that would happen.

When The Used finally came on stage, the place erupted into cheers. They played their whole In Love and Death album from front to back. This was a dream come to true for me because I’ve always wanted bands to play their albums in order. This is also my favourite album of theirs so it was even more special.

So first up was Take It Away. I have to say the light show that they had really set the moods for each song. Bright flashes for the more aggressive songs, soft purple hues for the more sentimental moments, some green to mix things up, and close to the end red, yellow, and green to stop and have what I’ve been calling a Marley moment, where we just sang bits from Marley songs, what could get better?

I Caught Fire was a good song played live, and it’s where Burt wanted us to burn the place up, and it got pretty crazy. This led into Let it Bleed, and then we just slowed down.

The lights went Purple, and he started singing Stand by Me. Once he was done with that Burt asked the crowd if we knew anyone who had overdosed on prescription drugs, it got pretty sad. But I’m not going to lie this whole album is pretty sad as it was written when he lost his first real girlfriend, and that’s when All That I’ve Got began to play and that is my favourite song off this album. I’ve never cried at a concert, but I do have to say at that moment here, I felt really close to full on sobbing, because the atmosphere in the room got really overwhelming.

But to pick up ourselves up, Burt told us that we have to put on the biggest smiles we have, and no matter how depressing these songs get we need to walk out of the venue wearing that big smile. And I can say that I did.

He got a little silly and started singing that stupid song, Let’s Talk About Sex, or is the song just called Sex? I have no idea since I hate the song. He then said the next song, Cut Up The Angels, is a song about bad sex. I had no idea that was what the song was about! This has changed my whole perspective of the song. Like now that I listen to it and really listen to the words, I can hear it, but I never thought about it being about sex, my eyes have been opened.

Listening was played next; then he told us if we didn’t know the words to the next song, to make up our own words and to sing them as loud as we could, and then Yesterday’s Feelings started.

I’ve noticed more and more this year as I go to concerts, going by myself is getting lonely. This was a perfect couple song, and the crowd was all swaying from left to right, they all looked to be having a good time with people they truly care about.

I’ve tried to overlook that and have a good time, because as Light With a Sharpened Edge and Sound Effects and Over Dramatics played it was just hardcore moshing and everyone just losing their shit. I know I’ve said it before that people get crazy, but this crowd went insane. I’ve seen The Used at Warped Tour three years ago, and I knew to expect insane bouts of moshing, and that’s why I made sure to get myself a balcony seat away from the crazy so I could have my own fun. I do have to say it made me feel a little disconnected from the crowd below, but I still had a pleasant evening.

If you know anything about The Used, you’ll know they never play Hard to Say because it’s too hard of a song for Burt, but he pushed through it and it was beautiful.

The next song, Lunacy Fringe, was when we had our Marley moment, as Burt told us to smoke a dooby, because this song is about him trying to overdose on marijuana. It was a fun moment.

And then it’s the moment at the end of the night when you know the last song is coming and you don’t want it to end because it’s been an entertaining and meaningful night. Even Burt said it was the worst part of the night, when you have to say goodbye.

I’m a Fake, the last song on the album really let the audience have their final hurrah. The beginning of this song starts off with chanting, that the whole audience spoke. It was like watching a crowd all chant in some sort of cult, it was a little eerie and creepy.

When they left the stage, the lights stayed off so most knew that an encore was coming. When they came back five minutes later, Burt asked the crowd on the floor to split in two, and when the music dropped they could go at each other, and that they did. They ended the night with Pretty Handsome Awkward.

Burt told us that not every show has the power to be as magical as the one we had that night, and I have to agree it was a magical night filled with ups, downs, and my phone dropped into a toilet- still trying to wrap my head around how I managed to do that, but I guess that’s what a good night of punk music does.