Posted 2 weeks ago
Live! The Used, The Almost Make Boston Quake W/ Rock
The House of Blues in Boston is known to host a myriad of different artists of all styles and genres, and you can usually tell who’s playing by taking a quick look at the fans in line waiting eagerly to gain entrance to the venue and rush to the front of the mosh pit. However, The Used and The Almost show this past Friday was a noted exception; no rock stereotypes were seen in droves, and all different types of people came together to bang their hands and give the devil horns to their favorite tunes.
The first sound you heard when walking in to the show that night was the blaring, angry anarchist punk rock of opener Drive A, a four-piece from Los Angeles, CA that has songs related to telling people to… go away, in many not nice words. The enthusiasm of the band and their similarity to acts like Green Day made them a hit with many of those at the show who might not have heard them before. They were obviously gracious to be on the tour, and gave a hearty shout out to The Used’s Bert McCracken at the end of their set.
The Almost, headed up by Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie, came on next to loud fans. They started up with the title song to their first album “Southern Weather,” which got the crowd excited for the rest of the set. Gillespie’s candor brought many non-fans into the world of the band, and many will certainly check out their new album that was under heavy promotion for the rest of the set. The album “Monster Monster” is due out on November 3rd and the band played the title track, as well as a song titled “Monster.” Good thing those two similarly named songs sounded so different, otherwise you would have a hard time telling them apart.
When The Almost finished their set, it felt like an eternity before The Used took the stage. At 10pm, a projector began to display a montage of video clips from the history of the band, including everything from music videos, to home movies, to tour and performance footage. As the music in the background came to a head, the white sheet at the back of the stage fell to show the bands name a huge syringe pointing down to drummer Dan Whiteside’s head. Bert, Quinn and Jeph joined Dan on stage and began to bring the noise with “Blood On My Hands,” the first single from their newest album “Artwork.” The rest of their set included favorites from all of their albums, from oldies “I Caught Fire” and “Blue and Yellow” to newer jams including “Come Undone” and the smashing final song, “Pretty Handsome Awkward.” The Used has totally mastered their performance skills by masterfully integrating and mashing their songs together to give the audience a seamless transition from one hit to another. Another great aspect of the show came from Bert’s interaction with the audience; his crazy and energetic composure made the audience laugh and want to rock along with him. Maybe if you are lucky you’ll get asked to join Bert’s new gang, “The Usedsters,” whose secret handshake can only be learned if you go to one of the shows on the tour.
Additional Links: For more information on The Used, The Almost, and Drive A, head to their respective Myspace pages. Also, start tracking The Used on Bandsintown to find out when they will be in your city!
