Taking Back Sunday at the Riviera

Last Saturday I relived so many angst teenage emotions thanks to Taking Back Sunday’s concert at Riviera Theater. They’re on a tour for the 10^th anniversary of the album that made them famous—Tell All Your Friends.

I unfortunately missed the first opener, thanks to train construction or something, but I did get to enjoy the second opener, Bayside. I had honestly never heard their music, but a large percent of the audience seemed to know them and love them. They certainly lacked the more pop sound of TBS that made me a fan, but their energy and music complemented the main performance brilliantly.

The build up to the show wasn’t that intense. We’ve been listening to Taking Back Sunday for a decade so it all felt rather familiar. But a lot can happen in 10 years— the friend who gave me a burned copy of Tell All Your Friends when we were 13 is now engaged with two dogs and a job as an elementary school teacher at a private Christian school and hasn’t listened to anything even vaguely associated with the punk genre for years—but somehow I remembered. every. single. word. And I wasn’t the only one. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever been to a show where the audience was quite so familiar with every song. They would sing them just as they were recorded while the singer sang different harmonies and often just listened to the crowd. Adam Lazzara said something about how listening to his voice on that album makes him cringe now, but he could see that it changed not only the lives of those in the band, but also those of all of us in that audience, singing along with such emotion.

This all was rather surprising to me somehow. I had sort of imagined that since it was an all ages show there would be a younger crowd, who perhaps had recently started listening to the punk pop music of the past decade, but what I found instead was a theater packed with twenty-somethings who have grown up with these songs. A woman behind me seemed to also be surprised, commenting, “I’m so glad it’s not filled with teenagers like I thought it was going to be!” I don’t even think I saw a single pair of Converse.

When Lazzara worked his way to the middle of the crowd, and seamlessly wove in some of Bon Iver’s famous Skinny Love lyrics, singing, “And I told you to be patient, and I told you to be kind” I experienced a wave of memories and emotions that were connected to these songs at different points in my life. Perhaps the attachment to these lyrics can only be so intensely experienced by a lonely teenager, but I was surprised to find that they still resonate with me today. This is impressive, and proof that the album (and the band) has something special. 

 - by Ariana, guest contributor

Young the Giant at the Riviera

Life is Chaos.  That's why I spent Friday evening in the emergency room instead of seeing Walk the Moon and Young the Giant as I had planned.  My dear, lovely roommate got doored while riding her bike.  Thankfully, she was wearing a helmet and is ok, but it was still terrifying.  I called upon my friend Joe to attend the concert and report back with his thoughts. Read on below:

"A couple hours before going to the show, I had never heard of Young The Giant, but a quick Youtube search proved that I was definitely familiar with their music. The band was formed way back in 2004 in Irvine California, but it wasn't until 2010 that they exploded onto the national scene after the success of their hit song, “Cough Syrup” brought them a record deal with RoadRunner Records and the release of their debut album. The album received widespread critical acclaim and their three singles all rose the charts rapidly. They performed at the 2011 MTV Music Video awards, and earlier this week “Cough Syrup” was featured on the hit show, “Glee.”

The music was good, solid, but all around, unimpressive. Aside from a few exceptions, there wasn't much emotion in the music. One could say they lacked soul – which was particularly apparent considering that most of the songs were carried by the vocals.

That isn't to say that the singer wasn't good. Sameer Gadhia has an incredible voice, and seemed to easily be the most talented of the band members.  He did a good job of getting the crowd involved – at one point folding the set list into a giant paper airplane. In general he seemed to really enjoy the music and being on stage, and he played the hell out of his tambourine – some of my favorite moments of the show were of him rocking his tambourine all over the stage. I also appreciated that his use of production affects – distorting his voice slightly and creating echoes – was kept to a minimal and very appropriate amount so that the result really was something cool.

The best part of the show was the start of the encore. The band came back out all wearing obnoxious, gaudy fur coats. Then, as a tribute to playing in Chicago, they covered R. Kelly's “Ignition Remix,” which was really cool.

I hate to sound too critical. The band obviously writes very good music, and the sheer size of the crowd brought an extra level of excitement. It was definitely a good show and I'm glad I went, but I just wasn't wowed by anything and just don't see the justification for their popularity. "

Editor's note: I still love 'em.

The Kills - The Last Goodbye

The Kills just released their video for "The Last Goodbye." You can watch it and read more about the video here.

The duo is kicking off their tour in Chicago on Friday, Jan. 20 at the Riviera.