Article and Photos by: Sophia Zucker

SAYREVILLE, NJ — The Used are celebrating their 15th anniversary touring across America, performing for two nights at each stop on the tour playing songs off their self-titled debut album (released back in 2002). The Used brought in a variety of different age groups at their recent New Jersey shows, ranging from young teens to 50 year olds. No matter what age, everyone in the crowd was over the moon excited to see Bert McCracken and the rest of the band completely blow the roof off of Starland Ballroom.

The fans loaded into the venue up to its maximum capacity extremely quickly, with people straight up sprinting to the front of the pit. The crowd waited excitedly for the alternative band, The New Regime, to take the stage. The lights started to dim and the room was filled with the noises of fans screaming at the top of their lungs. The New Regime came on and started their set, mostly playing songs from their most recent two albums, Exhibit A and Exhibit B. Singer and guitarist Ilan Rubin’s dynamic performance had no trouble connecting with the audience. They closed with “Tap Dancing in a Minefield”, and Ilan even did a mind-blowing improv guitar solo.

Once The New Regime finished their set, The Used took the stage one by one, the first being bassist Jeph Howard, then Dan Whitesides (drums), Justin Shekoski (guitar), and finally, singer Bert McCracken. Bert’s charismatic and energetic stage presence had the crowd elated with joy and ready to mosh the night away.

Something McCracken really knows how to do is interact with a crowd. After each song, he speaks in a way that feels very personal, and you can tell that he genuinely wants to connect with every single fan at his shows. By the time the main set started to come to a close, Bert was still going strong, and so were the fans. They played the last track off In Love And Death — “I’m A Fake” — and left the stage, but quickly came running back on to close off the show.

Before playing their last song of the night, Bert told the crowd that Eddie Reyes of Taking Back Sunday came to the show to watch their set, and even brought him onstage for a quick hug. The Used ended the show by playing “Pretty Handsome Awkward”, saying one last thank you to the audience before heading off stage.

Tickets for the rest of The Used’s U.S. shows are starting to sell out quickly so if you haven’t gotten your tickets for this once in a lifetime tour, you can find them here.

The Used’s Setlist:

1. Main Set
   1. Take It Away.
   2. I Caught Fire.
   3. Let It Bleed.
   4. All That I’ve Got.
   5. Cut Up Angels.
   6. Listening.
   7. Yesterday’s Feelings.
   8. Light With A Sharpened Edge.
   9. Sound Effects And Overdramatics.
   10. Hard To Say.
   11. Lunacy Fringe.
   12. I’m A Fake.
2. Encore
   1. Pretty Handsome Awkward.