Taking Back Sunday

w/ Anberlin & Envy on the Coast

at First Avenue

 

by Joe Toeben

 

A tour featuring Taking Back Sunday is always going to be fun.  Throw in a little known band called Envy on the Coast and you’ve just received a better value than you paid for. Don’t forget though, that Anberlin is on this tour too.  This is one of the most high energy concerts I’ve ever been to that wasn’t purely metal music.  This was my first trip to First Ave too, so it was exciting to be there for the first time.

Envy on the Coast is a four piece, post-hardcore act, out of Long Island.  They are made from the ashes of three bands that originated in Long Island as well, two of them being pop punk and the other, post-hardcore.  The lead singer was sporting reddish colored dreads, which complemented the rest of his band, which were also pretty hairy.  They play a style of pop punk that incorporates breakdowns of screaming and some pretty nifty guitar work.

I interviewed the lead singer of Anberlin, Stephen Christian before the show, so be sure to look out for that under the interviews section too!  Before this concert, I was only familiar with Anberlin’s newest album, “New Surrender”.  This band’s performance is where the high energy night started off.  Anberlin’s fans are some of the most loyal you’ll find anywhere.  After talking to several people wearing Anberlin shirts, I discovered that most of them bought their ticket to see their favorite band, and not Taking Back Sunday.  Anberlin started off their set with the new album’s opener The Resistance.  After a fan favorite, Paperthin Hymn, they dedicated the song Breaking off their new album to the lead singer of Taking Back Sunday, Adam Lazzara because he is “always breaking hearts.” After they played Feel Good Drag (which contained some serious moshing), my personal favorite Disappear, and other hits, they left the stage for the headliner, Taking Back Sunday.

After three lead singers and about a dozen band members total, Taking Back Sunday is still together and better than ever.  The 2009 tour is to support their new album “New Again,” which is out June 2nd on Warner Bros. Records.  Last time Taking Back Sunday came around these parts was about two years ago when they were on a tour supporting, you guessed it, their new album at the time “Louder Now.”  For those of you who don’t know Taking Back Sunday, they are a quintet from Long Island, New York.  Their type of music can be safely classified as just straight up rock, though most would call it pop-punk at best.  For a non-metal band, Taking Back Sunday has the rowdiest fans of any band I’ve ever seen.  They are always fun to watch because they bring so much energy to the stage. One of my favorite parts of the night was when lead singer Adam Lazzara said to the fans “You all watch us on your computer screens at home and now you’re watching us on your tiny screens on your cameras. Put your cameras down and be with us right here, right now!”  They played a good portion of their set from “Louder Now”, straying away from their older material due to the possibility of lead singer Adam Lazzara not being accustomed to it.  No matter what song Taking Back Sunday was playing there were always people jumping up and down as well as people being hurled head over heels in an attempt to get to the front of the stage.

One of the only things I could find all night that bugged me was the actions of TBS’s lead singer.  Pretty often he would come to the front of the stage and crouch down on his knees.  He then proceeded to stick his hands out towards the crowed giving them the impression they could touch his hands.  Now note that I said impression and I meant it.  He would stick his hands out, but just conveniently out of reach of the screaming girls that came to see him.  One time which could have been a fluke to begin with, he put his hands towards the crowd and a girl managed to touch him.  He then possibly panicked and swatted her hand away as if it were an annoying bee.  I don’t know whether his reaction to her touching him was because he wasn’t comfortable with it or because he believed fans shouldn’t touch him, it’s up to the readers to decide for themselves.

Overall, this was a really fun concert. The combination of the interview with Stephen Christian, getting to take pictures right under the stage and the fact I got to see Anberlin and TBS made this night all worth my trouble of driving in downtown Minneapolis (which I openly despise).  If you ever get the chance to see any of these bands, I seriously recommend that you do so because you will not be disappointed.  I can’t wait for Anberlin and Taking Back Sunday’s new material to come out.

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/takingbacksunday