As always, vocalist Bert McCracken flung himself around the stage like a person with a seizure taunting the audience with classic rock attitude. The audience went right along screaming along as the band kept the songs coming with only a few rallying calls between songs.

Definitely not a band to save things for a grand finale, latest single, I Caught Fire, found its way into the third slot followed by what is probably the best Used song to date, A Taste of Ink. Guitarist Quinn Allman squeezed every painful chord and riff from his guitar needed to keep the show blazing along, while bassist Jeph Howard, looking like someone who just murdered someone with his red dye splattered white outfit, flung he and his bass around with reckless abandon.

These are the sites and sounds of a set by The Used. There is never a lack of energy or mayhem when they hit the stage.

Opening the show was H2O. There was a time when H2O were the bright, fresh face of the New York hardcore scene, then came their signing to MCA where they proceeded to get poppy. This has been the band’s stigma ever since.

The band tried to bring the hardcore vibe to the show, but when they went into poppy songs like Role Model, the mood was hard to keep or take seriously. They were full of energy and heart, but the sound of their major label music was hard to get behind.

The lack of consistent power shows why they can be a big fish in a small pond, but not be a big fish in the big pond. H2O was a good opening act, but after all these years, you would like them to be something more.

The Used’s Set List:
Take It Away
Listening
I Caught Fire
Taste of Ink
All That I Got
Blue & Yellow
Box Full of Sharp Objects
On My Own
Sound Effects
Encore:
Hard To Say