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Taking Back Sunday / Angels and Airwaves

live in Camden
2006
live show

Review by: Dan Perrone
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Taking Back Sunday (link)

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Published on July 7th 2006

I know you love it when show reviews start out with a cute little anecdote about how I got there and why I was there and the connection I had to the bands and stuff, but unfortunately, I really don’t have much to say on the matter. My friend asked me to go to this show, so I said “Why the hell not?” I thought Angels and Airwaves was a pretty cool band, and I rocked Tell All Your Friends back in the day (you did too), plus who doesn’t like live music and friends?

Well, it turns out Head Automatica didn’t play. I was not aware of any cancellations (or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention), but I wasn’t too bummed out. Instead, the Vines performed first on the bill. I mean, the Strokes. Or was it the Hives? It couldn’t have been Oasis, because they didn’t look like brothers, and it definitely wasn’t the Sounds. See, as I was trying to figure this out in my head, I felt like a real jerk as the singer told us they were from down under, not Britain in the least, and were called the Subways. I had heard a little hype here and there, but it was pretty sweet going in there with no former knowledge of the band. Needless to say, they were pretty bad. The songs they performed were bland, typical rock and roll stuff, with nasally vocals. They’ve also got the token “hot girl” in the band (in quotations because this was actually far from the truth) who played bass and looked like she’d hadn’t eaten a thing in a week. I myself kinda think it’s rather gimmicky, for the horny fourteen-year-olds in the crowd to be like “Dude! Look how short her shorts are!” It was horrific when she sang, especially when she tried to harmonize with the lead vocalist. The crowd was not into them in the least (even from countless attempts to get the entire arena clapping by the singer), and it felt like they were on stage for hours as they didn’t have much energy and played probably twelve songs. It was a pretty bad way to start the night.

I think We Don’t Need to Whisper is a decent album. I’m not all gung-ho for it, even though it’s got some catchy tunes, but I was interested in how it’d translate live, especially in an arena setting. The wait between bands wasn’t terrible considering the circumstances, and after some time, the lights went low and the stage lit up and started blinking as I instantly went into a furious seizure. I’m actually comatose right now, you just can’t tell. But in all seriousness, I sorta dug the setup, with the colors and the epic banner behind the group; it fit the feel of their music well. As for the performance, I was pleased. Tom sounded pretty good considering his history of being off-key in a live venue (even though I’ve heard he uses a pitch corrector when he performs with A&A), and worked the crowd well too, at one point disappearing from the stage and entering into the crowd to interact with fans and sing the first verse of “There Is” by his other band, Boxcar Racer. They played almost everything from the new album, minus “Good Day” and “A Little’s Enough,” and even threw in a verse of “Down” by Blink-182 in the extended introduction to “The Adventure.” Tom pranced (I do not use the term “prance” lightly) around a lot on stage, but the other guitarists didn’t move too much; however, Atom Willard had a pretty great presence behind the kit, really looking like he was giving it 110%. There was a little overkill on the atmospherics and the lengthening of songs, but I suppose it comes with the territory. Tom also talked a bit too much, spewing out lame comments like “Just so you know, if anyone in your life, like a parent, says you can’t do something, fuck ‘em!” and “My brother just left for a war that we are fighting FOR NO REASON!!!!” Overall, their performance wasn’t nearly as bad as the previous live review of them made them out to be, and barring the few nuisances over the course of the hour and fifteen minutes, I enjoyed myself.

Taking Back Sunday is just sort of “whatever” to me now. I seriously could not care less about the band, so I wasn’t totally looking forward to them, but I was going to keep an open mind. As they came on to more flashing lights and gigantic backdrops, I nearly went deaf from the roar of the crowd. The band came out with the lead track off their new album Louder Now, “What’s It Feel Like to Be a Ghost” with more energy and a better sound than I had anticipated; the song actually sounded better in a live setting. Such was the case for most of the new material they played, but when the band performed material from Tell All Your Friends, they fell a bit flat. Vocalist Adam Lazzara was off-key a little bit when holding out notes, but his voice held up for the most part; guitarist Fred Mascherino’s voice fared much better, sounding less whiny than it does on record. The most aggravating part of their set was, by far, watching how much of a fairy Lazzara is; you can only take so much mic swinging and tight pants and lame dance moves and body movements before you start to wonder if the dude is actually a woman. Combined with trying to sound too hip when talking between songs, it was a disaster. Maybe some others won’t feel this way, but I had definitely had my fill of this guy a third of the way through the set. They had a little less energy towards the back end of their set (you’d run out of energy too if you had the build of their second guitarist), but they had a good balance of old and new stuff; the newer stuff had a better reception, but the biggest and most sung-along song was “You’re So Last Summer,” which had a young girl in tears a few rows in front of us. I didn’t see any slit throats or gasping breaths, so I disregarded it. We left a little early in order to beat the traffic, so I don’t know what they closed with or how the five encores were. You know how it is. Or maybe you don’t, but you did get to sit in an hour and a half of traffic. All in all, a decent performance, which is more than I could have asked for.

This was a fun night, and even if the performances weren’t mind-blowing and the bands playing weren’t my favorites, I still walked out of the arena and into the Camden night fulfilled. Obviously it’s not as intimate as a normal show, but there’s something about an arena show that’s also pretty cool in its own way. Just don’t be the mid-20-year-olds behind me discussing Pokemon. Then you’d have a problem on your hands.

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Posted by danperrone on 2006-07-12 12:18:34

p.s. i'm an indian woman

Posted by danperrone on 2006-07-12 12:18:24

stereotypical white male?

are you serious dude

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 11:26 PM (EDT)

your review was below average and stereotypical white male. The Subwyas have been playing good sets and that young lady rocks her heart out. I have seen Head Automatica three times on this tour and I'm sure they wouldn't be hard enough for your tatste. Many of us like the new new stuff and Daryl has been right on. Angel and Airwaves put on a good show and this music isn't for every taste. Taking Back Sunday was great they have one hell of a show production combined with new and old tunes.. Lazzara is a "Jack Sparrow" and its a shame that you have gotten to old and narrow minded in your musical taste that you can't enjoy a bit of theatrics thrown in. Why did you go to a show that you didn't care for the bands--must have gotten in free perhaps

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, July 10, 2006 at 5:36 PM (EDT)
My Score:

minus the fairy comment, this guy should write all the live show reviews, then maybe they wouldn't categorically all be fluff peices.

score if for the review.

wyzo

Posted by sceneupdates on 2006-07-10 17:31:55

I know people say "oh my this band sucks", but seriously, I heard this song on the radio and OH MY FUCK it was bad, so I googled the song and it turned out to be the Subways. Oh my shit, this band sounds like a whiney bunch of 10 year olds

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, July 10, 2006 at 2:12 PM (EDT)

I saw their show in charlotte and for some reason they decided to have it at 4:30 (still fuckin light out) so the light shows sucked ass. no one really got into head automatica or subways but tbs and A&A got a good responce. oh and they werent allowing studded belts into the show.. they confiscated well over a hundred.. (of course.. bring all the lighters u want..burn the place down.. but god forbid u hit it with a belt!!)

Posted by danperrone on 2006-07-10 07:45:12

oh you know what it's about

especially if you've ever seen them

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, July 10, 2006 at 12:31 AM (EDT)
My Score:

"The most aggravating part of their set was, by far, watching how much of a fairy Lazzara is"

WTF is that about?

Lame.

Posted by miniblindbandit on 2006-07-09 23:45:05

"These hot dogs are great!" Tom said frankly.

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, July 9, 2006 at 7:53 PM (EDT)

Tom needs to remember what it's like not to be a robot on stage.

Before I saw them, I read a review of the show the week before and low and behold the exact same speeches, dances, everything were done.

Now on the other hand, seeing Lifetime the other day taking requests from the crowd and changing the set list up at will.That was fun.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 8, 2006 at 5:14 PM (EDT)
My Score:

Angels and Airwaves are amazing. I hope they continue to make more albums.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 8, 2006 at 4:20 PM (EDT)

there is NO WAY that tom doesn't use a pitch corrector with this band.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 8, 2006 at 3:39 PM (EDT)

camden is both a town in london (of note due in part to its clash connection) and a potentially scary city across the delaware river from philadelphia. i believe this show was in the american camden.

Posted by bly on 2006-07-08 14:43:20

so overall the release was good, but if you consider calling someone a "fairy"(in quotes bc it is most definatly not true)you might want to keep it to yourself, just because adam lazzara has his own little stage presence does not give anyone the right to label him.

Posted by jockmcbored on 2006-07-08 06:44:08

the below is a joke before anyone starts

Posted by jockmcbored on 2006-07-08 06:42:44

"but camden is a fucking scary city."

it's a town. It's in London

Posted by fistchode on 2006-07-08 06:37:37

Were they discussing hte gameboy game, the card game, the TV show, or just the Pokemon universe?

The game rocks, I can see this with unclouded eyes at 22. My girlfriend hates me for it though.

Posted by danperrone on 2006-07-08 00:33:04

actually i took 295 the whole way down and it only bring you through camden for about three minutes

it wasn't terrible at all, not many people out (it was sorta rainy) besides this group of puerto rican kids that i let cross right in front of my car

but yeah dude, you guys don't know ghetto and bad ass neighborhood until you've been through camden...wasn't it just named like the most dangerous city in america? right on, i braved that shit, brotha

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 7, 2006 at 9:57 PM (EDT)

just showing some love for the dude going to camden to see a show. the ampitheather is nice and all but camden is a fucking scary city.

Posted by mcgregor107 on 2006-07-07 19:13:55

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 7, 2006 at 3:52 PM (EDT)

I was at the Camden show too, thanks to a free ticket.

The last I checked, Garden City (which is where the Subways are from) is in England. Their show at the First Unitarian Church in March was miles better than this one -- mostly because of the crappy crowd and amphitheater sound.

Angels and Airwaves were horrid. Unlistenable garbage.
TBS was much better than I thought they'd be but I still left early.

(Also, the Hives are awesome. The end.)

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 7, 2006 at 2:46 PM (EDT)
My Score:

Will is so smart and cool he makes me wet everytime I see his name

Posted by the_other_scott on 2006-07-07 14:35:12

i'm gonna have to go ahead and agree with both BSD and with sickboi on this one.

also, one of my best friends is doing all of the stage and lighting design for TBS on this tour, so its excting that he got a little bit of a mention in this review.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 7, 2006 at 12:31 PM (EDT)
My Score:

I was at this show, I saw some sweet ass titties from some girl i was near in the pit

Posted by kenjamin on 2006-07-07 12:31:21

After watching the world cup I realized that, "We left a little early in order to beat the traffic," Is a fundamental difference that separates Americans from the rest of the world. You think my dad would have stuck around for penalty kicks?

Posted by colin on 2006-07-07 10:54:18
My Score:

man i loved tell all your friends and blink 182 but nothing would get me to go to this tour.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 7, 2006 at 10:47 AM (EDT)

"I rocked Tell All Your Friends back in the day (you did too)"

not really, asswipe

how old were you in 2002? idiot.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 7, 2006 at 10:39 AM (EDT)

actually, back in the day for me would sound like " did you check out the youth of today show with 76% uncertain at the anthrax" ...thats back in the day-oldpunker-

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 7, 2006 at 10:33 AM (EDT)

and since when was 2002 back in the day? jesus that was 4 years ago.

a better back in the day statement would be 'you all rocked buck0nine twenty eight teeth back in the day'.

these bands all suck now, but TBS was good 4 years ago and blink ruled other than that last album.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 7, 2006 at 10:28 AM (EDT)

Next time don't lump the Hives as a generic band...they are far from it.

Posted by danperrone on 2006-07-07 09:17:03

i don't like your cute little quotes around the word rocked, sickboi

leave my colloquialisms alone

Posted by shitlips on 2006-07-07 09:08:58

Nice review. On of the best i've seen on this site. Def an honest review.

Posted by sickboi on 2006-07-07 09:07:29

Not all of us "rocked" Tell All Your Friends back in the day. I've proudly never fallen to the emo shitstorm.

Posted by danperrone on 2006-07-07 08:17:48

hahahah for real

oh well, sucks

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 7, 2006 at 8:13 AM (EDT)

The Subways are British.

Posted by danperrone on 2006-07-07 08:12:54

chill will!! there is obvious sarcasm in that sentence

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 7, 2006 at 6:45 AM (EDT)

Tom is way better in blink, in every way.

Posted by kingofsuck on 2006-07-07 05:55:42

I'm finding myself agreeing with Will a lot lately.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 7, 2006 at 5:51 AM (EDT)

Whoa... dude below me... get laid or something

Posted by WilliamMarinovic on 2006-07-07 04:01:27

"Instead, the Vines performed first on the bill. I mean, the Strokes. Or was it the Hives? It couldn’t have been Oasis, because they didn’t look like brothers, and it definitely wasn’t the Sounds. See, as I was trying to figure this out in my head, I felt like a real jerk as the singer told us they were from down under, not Britain in the least, and were called the Subways."

Wow, you must be a real moron since I only listen to one of those bands (the Hives), and still realize that they're all different.

For one, Oasis are from the mid 90's. They played Beatle-esque pop rock with a lot of modern glossy overtones. The Strokes sound like Television got a back alley lobotomy before recording their reunion album with drugs being IV'd into their veins to keep them awake, and/or alive. The Vines sound like crappy grunge music. The Hives sound like late 70's punk (ala Angry Samoans or Redd Kross) mixed with a dash of mid 60's garage rock and pop precision.

So how did you confuse them? And even though the Hives are the only genuinely good band out of that whole group, I'll take any of them over seeing Taking Back Sunday in a stadium with Blink 182 opening.

Posted by fallingupwards84 on 2006-07-07 01:57:05

"I was interested in how it’d translate live, especially in an arena setting."

that's exactly what that music is made for...

Posted by blake88 on 2006-07-07 00:45:24

i saw them in toronto yesterday. A&A got the expected squeals from the girls especially when tom came into the crowd. and tbs were good except for the fact fred's voice was shotty and cracking. the old stuff was really good. also adam was talking with a louisiana accent which threw some people off. all in all im not sure it was worth the $45 Canadian but whatever it would have been vetter if it was in a smaller venue.

ps doesnt tome delonge know saying fuck george bush over and over is so nofx 2004.

Posted by marvalbertlikesbiting on 2006-07-07 00:44:40

this has nothing to do with these shitty bands (but well done review) someone better review one, if not both of the D4 shows in chicago yesterday!!! do it!