The Used, Stealing O'Neal @UNSW Roundhouse, Sydney(12/03/10)

Sun 14th Mar, 2010 in Gig Reviews

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I put my hand up to review this gig, I imagined myself getting trapped in a time warp and being transported back to 2005, when The Used played to kids donning eyeliner, fingerless gloves and straight hair. Perhaps the gig would be like a trip down memory lane, tinged with fond nostalgia, or maybe it would reek of a band who need to give up the ghost (and the booze?) As it turns out, the gig packed a pretty damn hard punch and it wound up being one of the best I have attended in the last year.

Having never seen Stealing O’Neal live before, I walked into the Roundhouse with an open mind, and was impressed by their tight set. I have rarely seen a crowd so excited for a support act. While no one seemed to know the words to their songs, the room felt electric, the band did exactly what they were supposed to, and got everyone excited for the headliners. Although their musical performance was exceptionally good, the lame jokes and poser-ish attitude were the only things I could critique. Sometimes I find the sound at the Roundhouse a little distorted and often the mix is shocking. The sound was unusually good and my metaphorical hat goes off to the sound personnel for the night, keep it coming, please!

The last time I watched The Used play, back on the Taste of Chaos tour in 2005, I was more than disappointed. However, this time around the sullen faces, snide remarks and pretentious attitude had disappeared and the band took the stage to a deafening roar. They opened with the first track Blood On My Hands, from their new album Artwork and quickly treated the punters to crowd favourite Take it Away.

The new material got the crowd moving, the Roundhouse was one big singing, dancing, sweaty mess. It was perfect. The smaller venue suited the show and the band much better than any other venue they have played, it was intimate but exciting, frontman Bert McCracken’s banter kept the fans laughing, he told the crowd if they hadn’t heard or bought the new album, they should all ‘go fucking steal it,’ before launching into another new song, Empty with You.

If the crowd weren’t excited already, they sure got louder when the band said they’d be back at the end of the year for another tour, but the highlight of their set was the medley of three of their most famous songs, The Taste of Ink, All That I’ve Got and Buried Myself Alive.

Closing with A Box Full of Sharp Objects made for a lot of very happy punters, the energy from The Used didn’t waiver once, and the mix of old and new material was seamless, the fans loved every single iota.

Check out the photos from the gig