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Saves The Day / Taking Back Sunday / Moneen

live in Providence
2003
live show

Review by: Brian
See others by this writer

Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (link)

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Published on September 19th 2003

The trio of bands rolled into Providence, Rhode Island, on a sedated Thursday night, ready to rock the packed crowd at Lupo's.

Moneen took the stage to some applause, sheepishly introduced themselves as the ugly Canadians they are, and blasted right into "Start Angry...End Mad." Their furious energy took full advantage of the less-than-expansive stage, and got the crowd riled up a bit at some intervals to store some energy for the night. They continued the fury of poignant firepower, deriving most of their five/six-song set from Are We Really Happy with Who We Are Right Now?, wrapping up things with the title track.

No matter the location I've been to (Long Island, New York City, now here), each person in attendance at any Taking Back Sunday show is entitled to a very small piece of floor. Think of a voluntary Auschwitz program, and you'll have a rough idea of just how much breathing space you're entitled to. Mr. Lazzara and Co. brought themselves out on stage amid the desperate pleas for the sounds of the mostly-LI natives to fill their ears, predictably starting things up with "You Know How I Do," and immediately rolling into "Bike Scene." The unfamiliarity set in for a moment, as the singing along temporarily ceased and the finger pointing decreased for a new, "bed-wetting" inspired song that was played. After showcasing the first of three new songs ("Bonus Mosh Part 2" made another yet another appearance) that they'd play, the opening chords of "Cute Without the 'E'" ignited the chorus emanating from the floor. The new members, Fred and Matt, seemed to be almost fully adjusted to their new surroundings (Fred had played in Breaking Pangaea, and Matt "Seth Green called, he wants his body back" Rubano has actually played bass on Lauren Hill's first album) and are now fairly experienced in the TBS camp with many gigs under their respective belts. Adam had a nice Justin Timberlake improvisation going during the bridge to one song, and seemed to keep his mic-swinging antics to a minimum that night. The band also played the "couples" song for slow dancing, "Ghost Man on Third," plus "You're So Last Summer" and closed things up with "There's No 'I' in Team."

The mood slightly settled down as the headliners walked up on stage, and bright strobe lights illuminated things for Saves the Day, who opened with the happily depressing "At Your Funeral." Of the seventeen some-odd songs the band would play, In Reverie only made two or three appearances, the first of which, "Anywhere With You," was played third overall. The set was loaded with material from Stay What You Are; only "Jukebox Breakdown" wasn't played from it...hell, there was even a Stay What You Are vibe on the normally faster songs, like "All-Star Me," "Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots" and the title track from Through Being Cool. So all along I wondered how this vibe would sound on Can't Slow Down , but I never found out, as it was left out like the fat kid during Spin the Bottle. Chris, who still looks like he's 15, reminded me of his fair-enough reasoning afterwards (doesn't want to make the other band members uncomfortable, playing songs they didn't write), and they did manage to recall another piece of their discography by playing a plugged-in version of "Jessie & My Whetstone" off the acoustic EP. Chris, ever so grateful to the crowd the whole night, came back out with the band to play another pair of tunes from SWYA for the encore, "Cars & Calories" and the ironically titled "This is Not an Exit."

The night of easily-digestable emo-pop and such was a nice prequel for the lot of shows on my calendar ahead, but will likely be shown up by Thursday eight days after. Good thing - I wouldn't want to follow that up either.

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Posted by maverick on 2003-09-26 13:03:13
My Score:

Moneen, sucka.

-Scott

Posted by notfeelingcreative on 2003-09-25 21:41:19
My Score:

Did any GOOD bands play at this performance?

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 25, 2003 at 10:18 AM (EDT)
My Score:

"-the played well- i'm sorry, but im really into grammar- i love it"

THEY played well. You cockass.

-sickboi
(actually I bet they sucked as usual.)

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, September 24, 2003 at 10:27 PM (EDT)
My Score:

"TBS played good"
-the played well- i'm sorry, but im really into grammar- i love it

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, September 24, 2003 at 2:11 PM (EDT)
My Score:

man I went to the show last night. There were honestly like grade school kids there. Annoying as hell.

nevertheless, Moneen was cool as hell and TBS played good. I also found $20 on the ground.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, September 24, 2003 at 2:11 PM (EDT)
My Score:

man I went to the show last night. There were honestly like grade school kids there. Annoying as hell.

nevertheless, Moneen was cool as hell and TBS played good. I also found $20 on the ground.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, September 24, 2003 at 11:58 AM (EDT)
My Score:

"man, fuck taking back sunday.
so fucking "cool." but they arent.
fuck them and their cutesy song titles, that dont really mean shit"

you're either jealous or you have a crush on one of them and they turned you down

Posted by inagreendase on 2003-09-23 18:01:40
My Score:

As soon as my member releases the remainder of its semen I will review the new Strike Anywhere record.

lord its good

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 23, 2003 at 3:21 PM (EDT)
My Score:

As soon as I find my damn cable for my digicam I'll post my review of the Strike Anywhere record release show.

-sickboi

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 22, 2003 at 9:18 PM (EDT)
My Score:

maybe i will go to this show after all since saves the day is only playin a few songs off of in reverie.

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 22, 2003 at 3:55 PM (EDT)
My Score:

man, fuck taking back sunday.
so fucking "cool." but they arent.
fuck them and their cutesy song titles, that dont really mean shit.

Posted by inagreendase on 2003-09-22 15:30:18
My Score:

i agree...if there's one purchase you make that night, make it TBC. this score is for that masterpiece of an album

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 22, 2003 at 11:52 AM (EDT)
My Score:

Buy Through Being Cool, and buy both of Moneen's full lengths while you're at it.

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, September 21, 2003 at 9:13 PM (EDT)
My Score:

I'm going to this on Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

Looking forward to Moneen. I think I've heard maybe one song by them and I can't really remember it. My friend raves about them though, so I expect to enjoy them and I'll buy whichever CD he says is the best.

Taking Back Sunday, I've grown to love their CD. Should be fun seeing them, though I'm not too sure about their lineup change. They didn't sound too great on Kimmel, though I never heard them before live, so I don't really have anything to compare to.

As for Saves the Day, I assume everyone by now has at least one of their CDs. Well I don't. I think I'll buy one of their older albums, their new stuff doesn't really do it for me. Apparently they play like 23 songs or something, that's kinda disappointing.

yes, it will be an expensive night.

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, September 21, 2003 at 9:50 AM (EDT)
My Score:

Too bad it's at the gayass Pageant...Mississippi Nights would've been so much better...or maybe Pop's.

Posted by MaNiFoLD on 2003-09-21 00:03:34
My Score:

Can't wait to see this show in St. Louis.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, September 20, 2003 at 12:05 PM (EDT)
My Score:

so, i'm assuming this means they played Firefly. at least, that's what i'm hoping, cause i sure do love that tune and i don't want to feel deprived when i see them in a couple weeks.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, September 20, 2003 at 11:58 AM (EDT)
My Score:

ive missed saves the day at least 20 times. it sucks being young and not being able to go out during school. im sure someones gonna make fun of this but whoever does was here one time too

Posted by Katie4213 on 2003-09-20 00:40:08
My Score:

mmmmmmmmmmm . . . moneen.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, September 20, 2003 at 12:14 AM (EDT)
My Score:

I'm still kinda torn on the whole "new TBS" deal. At first, I thought that the old set of bands available (TBS with Nolan, and Breaking Pangaea) were much better than the new set of bands from the same members (new TBS, and Straylight Run). However, from what I've heard there's really no talent drop-off from the old TBS to the new, and Straylight Run is starting to grow on me. I'll see both the new TBS and SLR in november, and then I'll decide if the old or new is better.

Posted by inagreendase on 2003-09-19 23:26:18
My Score:

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, September 19, 2003 at 11:23 PM (EDT)
My Score:

does saves the day play anything from can't slow down?

Posted by MikeRiot on 2003-09-19 18:08:19
My Score:

i hate when singers dont actually sing thier songs. at least roger daltrey swung his mic in between verses, bringing it back down to sing.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, September 19, 2003 at 5:04 PM (EDT)
My Score:

i come from fred's home town area, and it's INCREDIBLY disappointing to see him in such a shitty band after breaking pangaea....seriously.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, September 19, 2003 at 4:22 PM (EDT)
My Score:

If that's the kind of songs STD is gonna play, I'm not going to be as disappointed as I thought I would.

Posted by blaubs21 on 2003-09-19 16:10:15
My Score:

god damn i can't wait for this show.

my plan is to go nuts up front during Moneen, at least maintain a good floor position during TBS, and then chill, rest, and enjoy Saves The Day. aw hell from anywhere in the building this show would be aight.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, September 19, 2003 at 3:35 PM (EDT)
My Score:

nothing from Can't Slow Down??? that is shameful. but expected.

-greyicewater

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, September 19, 2003 at 3:35 PM (EDT)
My Score:

if you think this is a good tour, kill yourself. the two worst bands in the world sharing a stage. get me my gun.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, September 19, 2003 at 2:28 PM (EDT)
My Score:

Taking steroids must make Chris look so young...

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, September 19, 2003 at 12:16 PM (EDT)
My Score:

(doesn't want to make the other band members uncomfortable, playing songs they didn't write)

wtf, hasn't std gone through like 15 members?