Taking Back Sunday Celebrate 20 Years with guests The Maine at HOB LV

May 11, 2019
3 min read

On May 4th and 5th Taking Back Sunday came to the House Of Blues Las Vegas for a two night performance celebrating their 20 year existence in the music industry. Along for the ride was a band called The Maine from Phoenix, AZ.

The Maine got things started by doing a cover of Blur's "Song 2" and then rolled right into their own song "Don't Come Down". The Maine is a five piece, pop/punk band formed in 2007, and for the tour they have added an additional guitar/keyboard player freeing up front man John O'Callaghan from those duties. They have produced seven studio albums, as well as published three books containing images of the band as well as journal writings from the band members. They are a high energy group with lyrics that are easy to sing along with. In fact, they brought an audience member up on stage and taught him the chorus of "Girls Do What They Want" so he could sing it for the crowd. To put the cap on his performance John had him crouch down and then jump up to end the song with the band cutting out as his feet hit the ground. It was obviously a memorable moment for the newly initiated rock star and very entertaining for the crowd as well. They played a solid 45 minute set and really did a great job setting up the vibe for Taking Back Sunday.

Taking Back Sunday is a rock band from Long Island with an enthusiastic following of fans who know every word to every song. It always amazes me how loud the fan vocals are at their shows. Seriously, front man Adam Lazzara hardly needs to sing a word. In fact, he frequently allows the audience to sing while he frantically spins his microphone around, wrapping it around his neck, sometimes kicking it, and catching it at opportune moments to pick up the lyrics and encourage the fans to sing louder (which, of course, they do)! For this tour TBS is performing their debut studio album, Tell All Your Friends (2002), in its entirety and then (on the first night in each new city) flipping a custom made coin which has the names of their two follow-up albums Where You Want To Be and Louder Now on either side of the coin. The coin was flipped and Louder Now was the winner for this show, so they launched right into one of their most popular songs from that album, "What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?" After rolling through the second album, they completed the performance with an encore of some of their most popular songs from their other albums, including "Tidal Wave", "This Photograph Is Proof", "All Ready To Go", and finished off with "A Decade Under The Influence".

The performance was capped off with a pair of confetti cannons littering the audience at the end of the final song, and the band exited the stage before the last piece hit the ground - a fitting end to a celebratory performance by a band that has stood the test of time. Taking Back Sunday puts on a fantastic live show and their fans are a huge part of that. They are a must-see live band! Look for more tour dates on their website HERE.

Taking Back Sunday photos from Randy Udell / R U Rockin' Photos