Microphones: are they for singing or for swinging? Every generation has an argument that defines them and this is it for mine. Well, I’m here to tell you that a victor has finally been declared.
Swinging.
Taking Back Sunday made their triumphant return to the Hard Rock this past week, playing the Joint almost exactly a year after playing the hotel’s pool. The show was sold out and the crowd anxious to sing along with the giants of early aughts emo pop. And we got our chance right away, with guitarist/vocalist John Nolan kicking things off with the buzzsaw-like opening guitar to “What It Feels Like to Be a Ghost,” and fans eagerly shouting “Well are you up for, are you up for…” while frontman Adam Lazzara treated his mic the way Will Rogers treats his lasso (yes, I Googled “famous lasso guy” for this review).
As a co-headliner with fellow MTV2-generation rockers Coheed and Cambria, nostalgia was a major selling point for the older fans. Classics like “A Decade Under the Influence,” “You’re So Last Summer,” “Timberwolves of New Jersey” (“a fan asked us to play this one before the show and I told him to get out of my face” joked Lazzara before dedicating the song to the fan) and set ender “Makedamnsure” had everyone singing along. Of course, the highlight of the night was “Cute Without the E,” which has usurped the Golden Gate as the best bridge in America (yes, I Googled “famous bridges” for this, too).
I was pleasantly surprised to see a sizable number of fans singing along to songs from the band’s 2017 release Tidal Wave. It is, for my money, the best album the band has released in over a decade. It finds the band aging like fine wine into a more mature sound, with hints of Americana and Heartland rock perfectly blended into their more traditional emo/rock sound. Songs like “Call Came Running” and the titular track were particular highlights and if it were up to me, their next album would full-on embrace the “Tom Petty meets The Menzingers” style of the latter song.
Following TBS was Coheed and Cambria. It’s been just a little over a decade since I’ve last seen the emo/prog rock hybrid and I found myself pleasantly surprised that they sound just about the same live now as they did back then. Frontman Claudio Sanchez’s falsetto is still on point, allowing him to nail those high notes he wrote in his early 20s like it was no big deal. And, of course, the shredding. The dude knows his way around the guitar like few others from his scene.
I feel like an outlier with Coheed, as I much prefer their shorter, poppier material than the epics they’ve built their highly dedicated fanbase around (so dedicated that there was no direction you could look in that venue where your vision wasn’t filled with people sporting their best Coheed tour merch of the past). Thankfully, “Devil in Jersey City,” “Blood Red Summer,” and “A Favor House Atlantic” all made the setlist cut.
Kicking off the night was The Story So Far, the youngest band on the bill and one whose sound, at least on their earlier material, owes a lot to Taking Back Sunday. In that respect it should come as no surprise that material from their debut Under Soil and Dirt – “Roam” and “Quicksand” – elicited the biggest response from fans and non-fans alike. Though to be fair, the existing fans were pretty excited by everything the band did that night, with a circle pit taking up a sizable chunk of the floor for the band’s entire set.
The band themselves seemed a bit more subdued than usual, possibly due to the much larger stage, but they really came alive with their cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog.” Frontman Parker Cannon really nailed Robert Plant’s delivery. The band also played new song “Let it Go” (the title triggering some PTSD in every parent in the room). The song is a surprising departure from the melodic pop punk that’s filled the rest of Story’s third full-length, sounding more like a Third Eye Blind deep cut. It definitely piqued my interest in hearing the entire album on September 21st.
-Emily Matview
Photos by Christopher Mounts | http://www.christophermounts.com
Coheed and Cambria:
Taking Back Sunday:
The Story So Far:
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