Taking back Sunday brought the house down with their melodies of romance and heartbreak on Thursday, March 19 at the Hollywood Palladium, leaving every person in the audience thirsting for more.
The original lineup: Adam Lazzara (vocals), John Nolan (vocals/guitar), Shaun Cooper (bass), Eddie Reyes (rhythm guitar) and Mark O’Connell (drums) reunited in 2010. Nolan and Cooper left the band in 2003 to start their own band, Straylight Run.
The Long Island band recently signed with new record label, Hopeless Records and released “Happiness Is…” on March 18. This follows a three record run with Interscope that saw each album hit lower on the U.S. charts.
The crowd went wild with anticipation waiting for Taking Back Sunday to close out the night. The lights dimmed and the five member band took the stage.
TBS integrated songs from their new work as well as songs from their albums, “Tell All Your Friends,” “Where You Want to Be,” “Louder Now” and their self-titled album, “Taking Back Sunday.”
“Happiness Is…” was only released a day before the show but that didn’t stop the crowd from dancing like they knew every word.
When classic songs played like “You Know How I Do,” “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut From the Team),” “Faith (When I Let You Down)” and “Flicker, Fade,” the crowd shouted along to the vocals of Lazzara.
Lazzara gave a disclosure before playing a song off the new album called, “Better Homes and Gardens” saying that he didn’t like to play that particular song live, but wanted to play it there because of the good vibes coming from the audience.
“Better Homes and Gardens” was very emotional and although most of the crowd was unfamiliar with the song, the catchy chorus had the fans shouting along, “But it was all for nothing, yeah it was all a waste. You held on tight and for dear life. But it was all for nothing!”
“Better Homes and Gardens” expressed heartbreak that Lazzara had gone through. “When you took that ring off, I sat there stunned. Parked out in my car, surprised by what you’ve done. The courage that must’ve took left me utterly speechless. And although it came as no surprise, I still couldn’t believe it,” Lazzara sang. “So just go on, that house that you hate. That house that we bought, but failed to make. It was all for nothing, it was all a waste. And now you’ll never be happy.”
The song was very moving and gave the fans exactly what they have loved about Taking Back Sunday since their debut album, “Tell All Your Friends.”
The fans, who appeared to be in their mid to late 20s, seemed to have stepped back their high school years throughout the duration of Taking Back Sunday’s set. Beer in hand, the crowd drank and danced as sweat covered their bodies.
TBS definitely did not disappoint and instead of leaving the stage and waiting for the crowd to shout, “one more song!” Lazarra explained that he was not going to waste time on the pretense of leaving only to come back on stage. He said that he prefered to get in at least two more songs before the night was over.
Taking Back Sunday truly took the fans back to the days when adulthood was nowhere in sight and the biggest worry was about love and heartbreak.