Taking Back Sunday! Tell All Your Friends!

Not many bands continue to exist after eleven years of playing together, but not many bands have more past members listed in their line-up than current members. Taking Back Sunday, the American rock quintet from Long Island sent shockwaves into the depths of online punk-rock forums around the world when they announced last year they would be reuniting the original line-up that recorded the cult-classic Tell All Your Friends in 2002. After the bad blood that initially divided the band and spurred countless songs of hatred and betrayal had passed, John Nolan and Shaun Cooper rejoined with Adam Lazzara, Eddie Reyes, and Mark O’Connell to record a new album and roll through London on a quick European stint.

It was a sold out show at the Roundhouse in London on Friday, May 20th, as tattooed, flannel-clad twenty-some year olds crowded the stage. Taking Back Sunday opened with “Cute Without The ‘E’ (Cut From The Team),” the breakout single off Tell All Your Friends that first gained the band notoriety. The first four open chords of the intro ushered in an immediate burst of energy; anticipation had been building throughout the sound check and suddenly broke the stillness of the crowd. Adam Lazzara, the lead singer known for swinging the mic just as much singing into it, quickly paced the stage, belting out the words with intensity. John Nolan, the guitarist/keyboardist, provided raspy back-up vocals in the band’s trademark call-and-response manner. The crowd was as much a part of the experience as the band, moshing against each other, crowd surfing toward the stage, and screaming every word of every verse and chorus.

The venue was a large circular room with the stage slightly offset of the middle, so the sound was pretty well balanced compared to most other venues because of the speakers set in front of the stage, as well as around the second level seating areas. The band’s live energy more than made up for Adam’s sometimes fleeting voice and the lack of polish and production that a recorded album allows. It was clear that all the members of the band had massive amounts of experience playing live shows, even if most of those shows were not together. They rotated seamlessly between different electric guitars acoustic guitars, and keyboards to accommodate various tunings and tones of songs. Adam and John both did a great job entertaining the audience with witty banter and clever anecdotes in between songs as the band retuned and called for in-era monitor adjustments from the soundboard in the back.

The band also did a fantastic job mixing material from their four previous albums and up-coming album, as well as a cover song from John Nolan and Shaun Cooper’s, previous band, Straylight Run. They played many songs off of their first CD that the band usually did not play previous to the line-up reunion. They also had a touring member providing back-up vocals and guitar hidden in the back corner to help fill out many of the parts that had been layered on the recorded songs.

Taking Back Sunday played to the audience, keeping the energy up for the first six songs of the set. Adam would hold the mic out over the crowd for them to scream lyrics into it, then swing it high in the air before catching it by wrapping it around his neck and arms during instrumental parts. Mark O’Connell kept time in between songs to keep the energy up and click in the band for the next song. The Straylight Run cover of “Existentialism on Prom Night” was the only mellow song throughout the set, though they have a handful in their catalogue. “Everything Must Go” also started out soft and slow, but then built to a strong, heavy finish. The rest of the set was a compilation of singles and crowd-favorites with no real surprises in the set list. The songs had areas of dynamic distinction, but even when the band would bring it low or drop out completely, Adam and John’s raspy sing-screaming kept the energy high. Before the final song, their most popular single, “MakeDamnSure,” Adam asked the crowd for requests. The crowd called for “There’s No ‘I’ In Team,” which Adam swore they would never play again after John and Shaun quit the band in 2004. Much to the crowd’s delight, Taking Back Sunday obliged their request. My personal favorite moment of the concert was hearing the band play “Best Places To Be A Mom,” the first song released off their forth-coming record. The raw, syncopated drums and open balance of music and singing translated incredibly in a live atmosphere. Even though the band was often playing songs they wrote ten years ago as teenagers, they performed and sang with all their hearts, as if every note and every word still rang true.

Here is a decent quality video of the opening song at the Roundhouse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YopvhZZygFw