The Used: Night Three at Emo's
- Bridget Cole
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Written by Bridget Cole
About seventeen years after its release, The Used brought their album Lies For The Liars to Emo’s last Wednesday, October 29th— a fitting venue for the 2000s emo and post-hardcore band. The group’s 25th Anniversary Tour brings three shows to each city it visits, each night dedicated to a different album. Starting off with their first and self-titled album from 2002, then their 2004 album In Love and Death, and lastly their 2007 album Lies for the Liars. As this was the last installment of the Austin shows, the energy in the room was high; some fans even attended all three nights. Out of Orem, Utah, The Used is Bert McCracken (lead vocals), Jepha Howard (bass), Dan Whitesides (drums), and Joey Bradford (guitar).
The evening kicked off with a high-energy performance from Texas-based rap metal band Notions. Hyping up the crowd with their intense vocals and infectious stage presence, the mood was high when The Used hit the stage just after 9 p.m. The lights went dark, and captivating visuals were projected on the screen that had been covering the stage all night. It read: “Night three with The Used is about to begin,” then led into a montage of clips from the band's recording sessions, with a voice-over by McCracken. He explained that writing this record was a lot more fun than his experience in writing the past ones.
The nostalgia sequence built up to yet another blip of darkness, as subtle lights cast shadows of the band from behind the screen. The album's opener, “The Ripper,” began, and the sheet fell, revealing the band as the crowd cheered in anticipation. Moving through the set in album order, the next song track was the unit’s hit, "Pretty Handsome Awkward,” one of the most anticipated songs of the night, according to the high-pitched whoops and yells it received from the audience. The crowd danced and sang loudly, while a few mosh pits opened up throughout the floor, despite Emo’s very visible “no moshing” signs. During this song, another sheet fell away, revealing a giant replica of the album cover mascot, whom they named Chadam. One concertgoer wore a fully handmade Chadam costume, later receiving praise from McCracken himself. “The Bird and the Worm,” another highly anticipated track, followed, after the band took a moment to address the crowd, saying the last two nights had been fun, but tonight was for true fans. The more emotional ballad “Earthquake” softened the mood, a song in which McCracken exclaimed, “But I’ve made this mess / I built this fire / Are you still mine?” Following “Earthquake,” McCracken asked the crowd if anyone would like to get on stage and dance for the next one, and the band chose a group of fans to dance onstage throughout “Paralyzed”. The group consisted of fans of all ages, from a very young girl sporting some fluorescent pink headphones and her mom, as well as the aforementioned Chadam costumer. It was indeed a dance party, fans filming their friends onstage, dancing with those around them, and, surprisingly, no mosh pits this time.
The band ushered off the dancers to give McCracken time to speak his thoughts, “We’re all at church right now because music is my religion,” he declared, earning some cheers from the crowd. After the short brain dump, The Used continued on with the album, playing “With Me Tonight” followed by “Wake the Dead,” a creepy track that hit even harder so close to Halloween. The tempo was brought down with one of the slowest songs of the night, “Find a Way,” but instantly brought back up with “Liar Lair (Burn in Hell).” The group shook it up towards the end, playing a B-side track titled “Pain” as a treat for the third night attendees. They thought they would catch the crowd lacking in lyrics, but were immediately proven wrong when the crowd screamed the words back at them. The night ended on a slow note with the album's final track, "Smother Me.” The audience waved their hands back and forth, singing along to the somewhat gruesome but ultimately sweet words “Now I can breathe, turn my insides out / And smother me / Warm and alive, I'm all over you / Will you smother me?” The track kept playing as each member took a small bundle of roses and threw them out to the crowd along with the usual drumsticks and setlists from the stage.
The set was short and sweet, including only Lies for the Liars in its entirety and nothing more (except the B-side surprise). There were many songs I would have loved to hear, and I’m sure other fans would agree, but that’s the beauty of attending all three nights. It was clear that this band meant a lot to those who attended; they were there when they needed them most, and they're still here for us 25 years later.