There’s no denying it, The Used are a band that can easily cast your mind back to the era of baggy jeans and sweeping fringes. Lashed with teenage nostalgia, they’ve been a pillar of the rock scene since 2001 and judging by tonight’s performance have no plans on making their grand exit anytime soon.
Sure, the four-piece have had their fair few of lineup switches throughout the years, with their most recent being the hiatus of guitarist Quinn Allman, but that doesn’t stop Justin Shekoski from standing up to the challenge.
Thrashing every riff as if it’s his last, Shekoski wastes no time in getting in the spirit by giving fans the show they’ve desperatly been craving for. From throwbacks like ‘The Bird And The Worm’ to newer material taken off their latest album Imaginary Enemy, front man Bert McCracken adds to the adrenaline as he rapidly belts out the group’s politically infused lyrics with as much passion and fire as he had when he wrote them. “Yeah! This is the end, this is the end, calling for revolution,” he screams as the crowd clings on to his every word.
Quickly soaring into classics like ‘The Taste Of Ink’ and ‘Take It Away’ it’s not long before girls and boys alike let out their teenage angst as a furious circle pit forms in the center of the room.
Channeling the essence of 2001 in the best way possible, we wouldn’t expect anything different. After all, tonight is everything you’d want from a Used show. It’s fast, it’s infectious and it’s bound to end leaving you in an alcohol haze as you belt out the words to ‘A Box Full Of Sharp Objects.’ No complaints here.
