The Used performs at House of Blues Chicago on April 2, 2025.
By Nina Tadic
The Used’s music has been a staple among emo kids for a quarter of a century (longer than some have been alive, for those who want to feel old) – so it comes as zero shock that their first three day stint in Chicago on their 25th Anniversary Tour was a smash hit. Unlike other anniversary tours, the band is spending a full three days in each city they hit, doing album play-throughs of three of their most legendary albums, one each night: The Used, In Love & Death, and Lies for the Liars. With Chicago always being a high demand city, the band played one set of days at the tail end of March into April, and will be coming back at the end of April to do it all over again.
It takes a certain level of notoriety to pack out Chicago’s House of Blues on a Wednesday night, but for any die-hard fan, seeing Lies for the Liars in full was a no-brainer, week-night or not. The nostalgia-trip was tangible in the air from the moment the doors opened – a gaggle of gals in fishnet tops and teased hair, folks in baggy zip-up hoodies and baggier jeans, and flannels over tank tops gracing the room felt like time-traveling straight back into 2007, and it was a sight to see.
Knowing just how into it their fans are, as well, The Used does not play it cool onstage – this is not a cool guy band, this is a party for everyone involved. Before their curtain drops, fans are singing along and dancing to “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Houston and “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan – and then the second the lights dim, the unsolicited karaoke night stops, and is quickly replaced with live-wire level electricity. Fans know the album, but they don’t yet know the show that comes with it, and everyone is gnawing on that fact very intensely in the few minutes before the band makes their way out.
The Used performs at House of Blues Chicago on April 2, 2025.
“You are about to see the greatest band in the world,” an announcement says over the speakers – and while it does, a projection comes across the billowing white curtain. A snowy TV screen surrounded by The Used’s iconography (and the box-headed man from the cover of the album) appears, and then begins to flicker between archival clips of the band members from the making of Lies for the Liars. Afterwards, it quickly switches to a person looking at, opening, and putting the Lies CD in a player – and the performance begins. Strobes flicker white behind the curtain, silhouettes of the band members become apparent, and the crowd begins to hoot, holler, and scream for them. As the curtain drops, the fast paced intro to the ripper begins, and the room is ablaze as everyone gets lost in it. Frontman Bert McCracken packs a punch with his vocals, as per usual, and anyone new to seeing The Used can rest assured that they sound just as good if not better than they did when this album and their band were new on the scene.
The Used is not just known for their punchy sound and lyrics however. They’re also known for their show, and their production on stage has never been a letdown. Drummer Dan Whitesides is on a riser in the back holding it down surrounded by an arch of spotlights that flare up and pulse on and off in time with the music. At the same time, guitarist Joey Bradford plays with the light rays streaming from behind him, and shreds while his hair whips around him in a way that is borderline surreal. Jeph Howard, the bassist that he is, headbangs back-and-forth across stage, always entirely locked in on his performance above all else. And while the band does this? The fans keep the vibrant energy in the room going all night long.
The Used performs at House of Blues Chicago on April 2, 2025.
Fan-favorites like “Pretty Handsome Awkward” (see: the first Transformers movie soundtrack) and “The Bird and The Worm” are absolutely captivating in a live setting, and definitely still hold up just as well as they did in ’07. Nearing the halfway point of the album, the band decides to up the adventure a little bit, calling on a cluster of fans to dance onstage for a song – it starts with Bert asking one girl if she’d like to join them, and then proceeding to ask another person and another and another, until at least half a dozen fans have made their way on stage and are letting loose having the time of their lives.
Because The Used fans always know how to make it a memorable night, it isn’t a shock when there’s even a proposal during the set. During “Liar Liar”, a couple gets engaged in the pit, in true emo fashion – and this isn’t something that the band lets go unnoticed. As soon as the song ends, Bert takes a minute to congratulate the couple “You got engaged? Aw, that’s sweet. That’s f****** beautiful,” while the rest of the guys onstage (and the fans) clap and cheer, all smiles, as well.
Following this momentous occasion, the band pulls out the big guns, playing a song that is, in McCracken’s words, “not on Spotify, f*ckers!” “Pain”, a b-side of Lies for the Liars, is the perfect balance of Joey’s rhythm guitar, Bert’s crooning, and Jeph’s gutteral screams over the bass and drums.
The Used performs at House of Blues Chicago on April 2, 2025.
It’s also definitely worth noting that even though plenty of tracks (just shy of half the album) made their debut for the first time since roughly ’08 or ’09, one track in particular has the magic of being performed live for the first time ever – Lies for the Liars’ closer, “Smother Me”.
“Thanks for coming along, and singing along, and dancing your ass off!” says Bert, prior to starting the track. And then, as the perfect conclusion to a play-through of a very well-loved album, “Smother Me”, the ultimate emo love song, captivates all 1,800 people in attendance. The crowd sings every word, beautifully and softly, right alongside the band, and the four guys onstage putting on the show are visibly elated to see it, as they have been all night.
It is safe to say The Used is a timeless band, and their choice to do a triple-album anniversary tour and have it be so insanely well-received is a phenomenal reflection of that. And when it’s time for a 50th anniversary tour, it seems fair to assume that the same crowd will be coming out, the same energy will be happening at those shows every night, and everyone in attendance will continue to fall more and more in love with The Used and their music.
(Photos and review by Nina Tadic – follow Nina on Instagram at @ninatadiccreative)
