There was always going to be a dilemma for Taking Back Sunday fans, whether to get tickets to this night (14 January) or the following one, with the band playing their seminal set 'Tell All Your Friends' with either 'Louder Now' or 'Where You Want To Be'.
For their first Sydney night, it was the former, and not surprisingly it didn’t disappoint.
Launching into their 2002 debut 'Tell All Your Friends', the Long Island-based act didn't miss a beat – and frontman Adam Lazzara didn’t miss a famed microphone swing – as they raced through the soundtrack to many people’s mid-2000s emo nights.
Click here for more photos from the show.
Not surprisingly, ‘Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team)’ was this set’s biggest crowd-pleaser.
The band have also benefited from guitarist and backing vocalist John Nolan’s return to the band (John and Adam had a famous emo split involving Brand New’s now problematic frontman Jesse Lacey, complete with diss tracks – here in the form of ‘There’s No 'I' In Team’).
Image © Hayden Nixon
While the second half of the album lulled a little, mostly due to the slower tunes being stacked back there, Adam was every bit the showmen he’s renowned to be; his between-song banter bordering on stand-up comedy, which the audience, featuring several people perched on shoulders down the front of the Metro, lapped up completely.
The second half of this epic set covered 2006’s 'Louder Now', a record some early Taking Back Sunday fans have been quick to discount. However, tonight it was clear a lot of the crowd came to the band on this album.
Again, not surprisingly, ‘MakeDamnSure’ – a track the band usually finish their shows with – was met with a sea of voices and fists in the air.
'Louder Now' is another set that stacks the bangers up the front, so while the second half of the record lulled a little, with quite a few audience members calling it a night on this hot Sydney Monday, there were still standout moments, like the underrated ‘Twenty-Twenty Surgery’.
Image © Hayden Dixon
And for those torn with Monday or Tuesday night shows, Adam and company threw a bone, closing with 'Where You Want to Be’s ‘A Decade Under The Influence’, perhaps Taking Back Sunday’s biggest ‘hit’ in Australia given its triple j support at the time.
While neither the band nor their fans are getting any younger, this epic near-two-hour set was clearly mutually appreciated – even for a Monday night.
