The Used
May 27, 2016
The Novo- Los Angeles, CA
Celebrating 15 years of touring and being in a band together, The Used set out to do a special anniversary tour, playing two dates in each city, with each date dedicated to one of their two albums. The first night, the band would play Self-Titled and the second night they would be performing In Love and Death, both in their entirety. This special tour kicked off in early April, and it came to a close on May 31 in Santa Ana.
The band made their way to Los Angeles to The Novo on May 27 for night one of their two night residency. With a packed house and a stage full of mannequins of women, men and children, with writing covering their bodies, the band made their way onto the stage, one by one, kicking off the set with Maybe Memories.
The energy on stage was amazing with lead singer Bert McCracken belting out the vocals with such emotion and passion, just as he probably felt when he first wrote the lyrics in 2002. Bassist Jeph Howard was with his signature bass that had neon orange 
strings, that matched his neon pink Vans. Aside from the two founding members, Dan Whitesides’ who has been on the drums since 2006, did an amazing job keeping the crowd entertained while pounding on the kit and recent guitarist Justin Shekoski kept up the energy by jumping and head banding along to the songs.
What was nice about this set, compared to other rock sets nowadays, is the amount of connection that was felt between the band and the crowd. McCracken would constantly talk to the crowd, and while many bands do this, I have yet to seen anyone do it as much as McCracken did. He would talk to fans at the end of nearly every song that night, constantly thanking them, giving them a backstory to songs, asking questions and even encouraging them through their struggles.
The band quickly played through the album, of course including their most popular hits to date, The Taste of Ink, Blue And Yellow and A Box Full Of Sharp Objects. Mosh pits, crowd surfing and sing alongs ensued from the first song and didn’t stop until the band left the stage. Both new and old fans were at this show, both groups singing along just as passionately, proving just how much music really does mean to them. Bert McCracken said that The Used fans are different from other music fans, in the fact that they appreciate and think of music in a different way and that music means much more to them than other people. And judging by the way this night went, and the fact that this band has been around and continues to be relevant after 15 years, just goes to prove that McCracken was correct.
Review by: Nicole Lemberg
