Record to Rendered

Currently listening to: The Sounds – On Directing

Every year, Michigan State‘s RHA (Residence Halls Association) organizes three to seven ”big” shows to be put on at the college. In the last three years, we have seen Guster, Augustana, Hellogoodbye, Brand New, among many others. Noting that I despise Guster and love Brand New, I would coin this year’s Taking Back Sunday headlining show the best yet.

To my surprise, Anberlin was the opening act. Though they were only granted a 30-minute set, the six piece made it count. In matching brown collared shirts (complimented by black skinny ties and suspenders, of course) and black pants, the band that derived in the midst of the 2002 screamo era brought the emo look like it was nobody’s business. Aside from vocalist Stephen Christian and lead guitarist Joseph Milligan having different hairstyles, Anberlin performed as they always do: full of energy, with a sound not lost by leaving the studio.

Up next was All American Rejects. While I was never a die-hard AAR fan, I have always enjoyed the occasional pop-radio sound, and was looking forward to finally seeing the act live. What happened next is nothing I ever want to witness again. Tyson Ritter, squeezed into what seemed to be 99% elastic jeans, shirtless and oiled down, Britney-ed his way onto stage speaking like a coked up hooker. With seizure-inducing lights, Ritter self-riteously referenced sex acts with underaged girls, had the crowd chant lines of touching him, crawled around the stage floor and insulted the audience. Thanks to the tech cranking the reverb to max, the vocals were up to par, as was most of the music. The guistarist spent the majority of the show throwing his picks and spitting water into the crowd, occasionally dramatically striking a chord. The bassist duties seemed to be split between three unrecognized people, Ritter taking on duties during the mindless jams. The drummer, not introduced to the audience, seemed to be a traveling studio artist, not an actual member of the band. In between songs, Ritter roused the crowd by singing the word ”Michigan” in a Christina Aguilara fashion, and outed himself as not knowing where he was by announcing a future show he would be playing in the area. As AAR played Last Song as their last song (fitting, right?), and I got ready to celebrate the light at the end of this awkward tunnel, the band came out for an encore… with two songs. It was brought to my attention that both All American Rejects and Taking Back Sunday headlined (rotating closing artist), making sense of this early encore. However, what happened to a band playing their own music, the music being enough entertainment, rather than having to make up lack thereof with nonsense?

Finally, Taking Back Sunday was up. The band errupted onto stage, skipping the small talk and diving right into a great performance. Adam Lazarra and his faux southern accent invited the crowd to be part of the band for the night, including them in sing alongs and recognizing the school itself as Michigan State. Rather than covering most songs from New Again, the band played all of their best hits, including One-eighty by Summer, You’re So Last Summer and Great Romances of the Twentieth Century. As Matt Fazzi (guitars, vocals) flawlessly rocked out on a broken foot and Matt Rubano (bass, vocals) jammed right through the flu, Taking Back Sunday’s confidence shone. This band is no longer an MTV favorite, nor was their newest album a topseller. Regardless, the band maintains modesty, energy and an attitude that will keep their fans entertained for years to follow. The band ended with Makedamnsure, but unfortunately due to All American Reject’s extended encore, there was no time for Taking Back Sunday to have one.

Overall, the show was great. Though I’ve seen enough of All American Rejects to last a lifetime, Anberlin and Taking Back Sunday made the entire show worth while. To catch the tour at a college near you, visit www.takingbacksunday.com/tour.