A sold-out Marble Factory erupted into a blast from the past as The Used took to the stage for an electrifying performance showcasing over two decades of their illustrious career. “We’ve been a band for 23 years. We never stopped, never took a break,” charismatic frontman Bert McCracken exclaimed proudly to the jam-packed room, with faces of adoring emo kids both past and present looking back at him. Judging by this performance, it’s easy to assume that they won’t be stopping any time soon either.
Avoiding the common theme of dragging out the majority of fan favourites to the end, The Used unleashed a tidal wave of wistful nostalgia right off the bat, opening with four absolute corkers to start the night on with “Pretty Handsome Awkward”, “Take It Away”, “The Bird and the Worm” and “Sound Effects and Overdramatics”.
The backdrop cascaded in images of roses, keeping in theme with their 2023 album “Toxic Positivity”. Despite only being released in May of this year, the band played just two tracks from this album (“The Worst I’ve Ever Had” and “Giving Up”), which to me was a testament to how in-tune they are with their audience, knowing what the majority of the room turned up for and being sound enough to honor that with a full-on nostalgia-fest.
McCracken truly embodied the (proudly cringy) emo angst the majority of the room most likely once felt when first hearing The Used’s music, encouraging the crowd to boo them rather than cheer and to raise their middle fingers as he raised his back whilst everyone chanted “Fuck You”, which is also a title of one of their tracks from more recent years. An oddly enchanting circle pit to a Shakespeare soliloquy also took place, impressively with many audience members also reciting it.
Spectacle and entertaining crowd interactions aside, McCracken’s vocals have also maintained the same rawness and emotion as displayed in the lyrics of their songs from two decades ago, seamlessly flowing between heart-stabbing anthems such as “I Caught Fire”, “All That I’ve Got” and “The Taste of Ink”.
The lights seemed to dim once again as quickly as they had risen, with the band leaving the stage and coming back shortly after to finish their set, not without the gloriously emo monologue introduction of “I’m a Fake”, with an impassioned audience seemingly all chanting it back with pride. Just when we thought it was all over, they provided one more surprise, suddenly breaking into the chorus of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” which ensured everyone left on a high to continue their Friday nights.
Whilst I wasn’t personally at the age where I was able to see The Used at the peak of their popularity in the early 2000s, it was an honour to be able to watch them live years later in a sold-out venue, showing that some acts can truly stand the test of time. Emo never dies.
Role: Reviewer
Outside of my day job, I’m a regular gig-goer and have always enjoyed writing articles to fuel the passion even further, whether that be through reviews for live shows or for full albums.
Available for: Gig reviews, album/single reviews and artist interviews.
First attended gig: The first show I bought a ticket to myself was 30 Seconds To Mars supported by Enter Shikari at the Brighton Centre.
First gig reviewed: The first gig I reviewed was a showcase of underground DIY rock acts dubbed ‘Deprestlemania’ at The Victoria in Dalston.
Dream gig: There are too many to choose from. It would have to be either Def Leppard, Pearl Jam playing every song from Ten, or Deftones (preferably playing their entire discography). Or even better, all three!
