All photos by Julius Aguilar
Where were you in 1999? As much as you’d love to admit you were in Long Island, New York witnessing a small band named Taking Back Sunday form, unfortunately, we bet a lot of you were still in diapers watching your parents freak out about Y2K. Nonetheless, now that you’re 20 years wiser and 20 years removed from Pampers (hopefully), we bet you can probably guess where we’re going with this write-up.
As if the title didn’t already give it away, today we’re taking a brief moment to appreciate 20 years of one of the most influential rock bands in our scene, the one and only, Taking Back Sunday.
Currently out on tour celebrating two decades as a band (*insert “A Decade Under The Influence” pun here*), the seasoned New York act is doing so by performing their first three albums in full across two separate nights.
Playing everything from the obvious “Cute Without The E,” “You’re So Last Summer” and “Makedamnsure,” all the way to deep cuts like “The Blue Channel,” “Bonus Mosh Pt. II,” and “I’ll Let You Live,” Taking Back Sunday is treating fans new and old to the music that introduced them to the term “emo.”
While Taking Back Sunday’s setlist is as nostalgic as ever, the band’s performance on this run of dates is a breath of fresh air as they pump life back into songs dating all the way back to 2002. Coupled with stories about the band writing these records and playing them for the very first time (one of which included touring in a former deli van), Adam Lazzara, John Nolan, Shaun Cooper, Mark O’Connell and company are pulling out all the stops to make this 20-year-anniversary as special as ever.
With their friends in Frank Iero And The Future Violents opening up the show, featuring former members of Thursday, Murder By Death, and yes, My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday’s 20-year tour feels more like the high school reunion you wish you could’ve attended in place of your awkward gymnasium hang out. For proof of exactly that, we have photos from night two of Taking Back Sunday’s performance in Tempe, AZ thanks to Noise contributor Julius Aguilar. To check out the shots, which also include an exclusive in-store acoustic performance from a nearby Zia Records, be sure to look below. Afterward, make sure to grab tickets to see Taking Back Sunday out on tour here.
