The Used, The Almost & Drive A - November 9th, 2009 - Marquee Theater - Tempe, AZ

Review by Liz Tanguay

When you go to a show and expect it to suck and then it doesn’t, it’s always a pleasant surprise. The Used played at Marquee Theater on November 9th, with a promising young band call Drive A and the born-again ridiculousness, The Almost. I’ve been told on more than one occasion that the Used were terrible live, so I really wasn’t excepting the huge sound and humor that entertained me from the moment Drive A stepped on the stage to the final acoustic encore performed by the Used. With the exception of the “Jesus Saves” lecture from The Almost, the show was fantastic.

Drive A opened loud, fast, and obnoxious with the title track off their debut album, Loss of Desire. This incredible young band from L.A. did not disappoint with their high energy, talent, and insane antics. None of the band members were still for a moment: leaping around the stage and at one point Bruno Mascolo (lead vocals, guitar) leapt into the crowd to surf and start the hesitant pit himself. These kids definitely deserved a livelier crowd. They were so amusing I asked for their album to review, which can be read here.

The let down that was The Almost was nearly complete. With six band members charging around stage and a lead singer that had more hair then necessary, the action was hard to follow. There was plenty of noise and bad screamo vocals from this Florida band (I expect more from a band from my home state). They did attempt some progressive sounds and for a moment I was shocked by the likeness to Coheed and Cambria. Aaron Gillespie liked the sound of his own non-singing voice a little too much, talking about “football and stuff” and going on and on and on about his personal savior who loves us all. I thought I was at church with mom for a while. I may have even nodded out during the most boring moments. Fortunately they ended the set with a huge solo by Gillespie, a Brand New-esque ballad that made up for some of the lameness it followed.

Finally, enter the Used. The biggest sound of night came from a funny little gremlin named Bert McCracken. Starting with "Blood on My Hands" (from Artwork), the crowd sang along from the first lyric growled out. The lighting was amazing and the fans, young and very old, pressed forward to receive McCracken’s reproach. Conducting the crowd through all the hits and handing out life lessons like “If you have drugs, do them. If you go to jail for drugs, that sucks for you.” When a girl screamed lets make babies, McCracken answered, “Let’s make abortions. Jesus loves a good abortion!” Hilarious. At the end of one song he screams “BOO MY ASS!” Reluctantly the crowd obeys.

The set included "I Caught Fire (In Your Eyes)", "The Taste of Ink" and the massive sing-a-long "Blue and Yellow". McCracken then tells us in his spare (drunk) time, he and Quinn Allman "throw poop back and forth at each others assholes". Donning a black fedora complete with feather, he breaks into beat boxing, which leads into a partial cover of Michael Jackson’s "Billy Jean". He interrupted himself to inform us that Jackson is alive and well on an island in the Caribbean, where “no one’s gonna stop Michael Jackson from molesting all the fucking children he wants.”

The Used then plays "The Best of Me", from their latest album Artwork, McCracken attacking it on his knees. At the end of which, the largest bra I’ve ever seen was thrown in his face. He commented on the awful aroma and asked the girl if she wanted it back. I’ve never seen anyone act so publicly disgusting, picking his nose then eating it, spitting and snot-rocketing all over the stage. At this point, McCracken has the crowd split down the middle for their performance of "Pretty Handsome Awkward", warning us to be prepared with our finger ‘horns’ to charge toward each other. This bull-rush leads to the entire theater erupting in the largest pit I’ve ever witnessed.

The encore consists of McCracken playing a wild solo on the drums, then picking up an acoustic guitar to play Screeching Weasel’s "Real Cool Kids". He then went into "On My Own", also acoustic and solo. He gut-wrenchingly screams “On my own, AARRRGGGHHHH!” over and over, joined once again, not by his band mates, but by the crowd he so earnestly scorned. He was just as amazing solo as he was with the Allman, Howard, and Whiteside.

With the beginning and end of the show being so great, The Almost were almost forgotten. If it wasn’t for the notes I made I wouldn’t have had anything to say about them. Drive A drove the crowd into a frenzy that was stalled a little by the middle act, but brought to a new crescendo by the Used. Drive A astounded with musical talent and energy, while the Used humored and harassed. Both bands have recently released albums worth checking out.

Visit The Used's official website: theused.net

Visit Drive A's official myspace: myspace.com/drivea