The Used w/ Drive A 10.15.09 | Riviera Theatre | Chicago, IL by Ashley Snider photos by Annette Essey Drive A opened up the show to a sold out, sleepy crowd in Chicago. It was nice to hear a straight up punk rock band start out the night, and they brought an in your face sound to the stage. Drive A had a little trouble waking up the crowd, who seemed to still be visiting Sleepy Town, but they had their own methods of attack on the audience.
Singer Bruno Mascolo tried to get a pit going, calling the crowd 'pussies' when they failed to do much of anything, and eventually dove into the crowd himself and crowd surfed for an entire song. That woke them up a little, but only for the three minutes it lasted. Every song Drive A played had a great sound to it, displaying most of the things there are to love about an aggressive punk song. Short and sweet, Drive A put on a quality performance to a bunch of tired Chicagoans. The Almost graced the stage next. The Almost is the project of Aaron Gillespse, who is also the drummer for UnderOath, but sings and plays guitar on stage for his new project. I honestly thought Gillespe was going to break his head off. Bringing his drummer head banging moves into his guitar playing, he was thrashing his head around so hard, there had to be some loss of brain cells. The band played everything from heavy songs to bouncy, poppy songs to slower, melodic songs that showcased Gillespe’s astounding vocal range. This guy really does have a great set of pipes, but it doesn’t really hit you until their final song, “Monster,” with just him and his guitar. Overall, the band put on a great show, but the crowd didn’t seem to want to fully wipe the crust out of their eyes until the main act took the stage. The Used played an opening group of clips of them in the studio recording their newest full length, Artwork, before they stormed on stage to thunderous applause. It was a great opening sequence, and got their fans in The Used mindset. Roars and cheers were heard. The crowd was finally awake, after a good hour and a half of other bands trying to accomplish that same feat.
The Used put on their usual show full of aggression, with a dash of angst, and a pinch of Bert McCracken’s filthy mouth. He mixed genuine gratitude with a cocky “Kiss my ass!” when he read a note a fan threw on stage that said the band had saved her life. However, that’s just the McCracken persona. He’s a little crass, but his vocals match the sound you hear on the record, so he gets a free pass.
The crowd’s complete and total love was present for the entire set, but especially during songs from the bands first release, such as “Blue & Yellow,” “On My Own,” and “The Taste of Ink.” The aggressive “Best of Me,” “Box Full of Sharp Objects,” and “Pretty Handsome Awkward” elicited all the rage of angsty 12-20 year olds alike. Mix in the infamous wall of death, in which fans are split down the middle, form a big empty space, and proceed to run at each other as if it were a scene from Braveheart, and you have a standard, and always awesome live experience from The Used. Check out the full sets of The Used and Drive A concert photos. >> www.myspace.com/theused >> www.myspace.com/drivea >> www.myspace.com/thealmost