Taking Back Sunday @ the Pavilion, Bath
So, last night, I saw a bunch of thirtysomething guys pretending to be 21 and having a blast. In theory, it shouldn't have worked, but in practice, it was the best gig I've been to in a long time. They played 'There's No I In Team', you guys. They played 'There's No I In Team'! That's something to tick off my bucket list.
Just to show you exactly where I am in my appreciation of TBS: when the band took the stage, I immediately hightailed it through the crowd, missing half the first song. Why? I ended up on Eddie's side of the stage, and clearly, clearly I needed to be on John's side of the stage. Luckily the venue was large enough that I was able to secure a very nice vantage point to the far left of the stage, which gave me a great, uninterrupted view of John.
JOHN NOLAN = STILL REALLY ATTRACTIVE.
Adam Laz = still super annoying, but also kind of stupidly endearing.
(As I was leaving, I overheard two girls who obv didn't know the band well. They were talking about how the guy in the check shirt -- guess who -- was really cute, while the lead singer was a dickhead. LOLOLOL.)
In all seriousness, though, Adam really endeared himself to me by crouching down at one point and talking to a kid at the barrier who was filming the whole show. He gently suggested that he might want to put his camera down and just enjoy the show. <3 This is the truth, kids!
Adam also seemed genuinely touched when he asked if anyone in the crowd had been to see the band before and 75% of the crowded hollered yes. "Wow... thanks for coming back."
That said, Adam was still prone to ridiculous tangents. Cute highlight: John resting his forehead on his mic and miming a yawn during one said pointless story.
As for the songs, they played 6/10 songs from Tell All Your Friends. SIX OUT OF TEN. (You Know How I Do, Cute, There's No I in Team, Great Romances, Timberwolves at New Jersey, You're So Last Summer.) Is it 2002 again already?? :D
I wondered how John and Shaun would cope playing live the songs that TBS recorded while they were off writing lyrics like "a slow descent from unique to routine / over and over / just do it again and this time with feeling" (you can pretend the split was all amicable now, J.No, but your lyrics say different :P). But, actually, they were so into it. You got the distinct feeling that John and Shaun had missed just rocking out. Ahhhh.
I... was not crazy about Adam taking lead vocals on 'Existentialism on Prom Night'. It was nice to hear John play the piano part of that song; it was nice to hear the crowd yelling along with the lyrics, but... but... :|
Anyway, let's skip to the encore, which was the best part. Apparently they ran into some fans earlier in the day, who asked them to play 'Great Romances', which they don't normally play. So I thought, oh cool, I like that song, etc. And then, after they played that, they started talking about playing a song that "they swore they'd never play", but it didn't even cross my mind that it could be...
THERE'S NO I IN TEAM.
I have never before at a concert been so overcome with emotion that I wanted to throw up. My stomach was so full of joy that I needed to void it. GROSS BUT TRUE.
Hearing/watching John scream "best friends means I pulled the trigger, best friends means you get what you deserve!" was the actual best. And after the song finished, he just kind of slumped over at the waist, like he'd been through this intense catharthis.
AMAZING.
Just to show you exactly where I am in my appreciation of TBS: when the band took the stage, I immediately hightailed it through the crowd, missing half the first song. Why? I ended up on Eddie's side of the stage, and clearly, clearly I needed to be on John's side of the stage. Luckily the venue was large enough that I was able to secure a very nice vantage point to the far left of the stage, which gave me a great, uninterrupted view of John.
JOHN NOLAN = STILL REALLY ATTRACTIVE.
Adam Laz = still super annoying, but also kind of stupidly endearing.
(As I was leaving, I overheard two girls who obv didn't know the band well. They were talking about how the guy in the check shirt -- guess who -- was really cute, while the lead singer was a dickhead. LOLOLOL.)
In all seriousness, though, Adam really endeared himself to me by crouching down at one point and talking to a kid at the barrier who was filming the whole show. He gently suggested that he might want to put his camera down and just enjoy the show. <3 This is the truth, kids!
Adam also seemed genuinely touched when he asked if anyone in the crowd had been to see the band before and 75% of the crowded hollered yes. "Wow... thanks for coming back."
That said, Adam was still prone to ridiculous tangents. Cute highlight: John resting his forehead on his mic and miming a yawn during one said pointless story.
As for the songs, they played 6/10 songs from Tell All Your Friends. SIX OUT OF TEN. (You Know How I Do, Cute, There's No I in Team, Great Romances, Timberwolves at New Jersey, You're So Last Summer.) Is it 2002 again already?? :D
I wondered how John and Shaun would cope playing live the songs that TBS recorded while they were off writing lyrics like "a slow descent from unique to routine / over and over / just do it again and this time with feeling" (you can pretend the split was all amicable now, J.No, but your lyrics say different :P). But, actually, they were so into it. You got the distinct feeling that John and Shaun had missed just rocking out. Ahhhh.
I... was not crazy about Adam taking lead vocals on 'Existentialism on Prom Night'. It was nice to hear John play the piano part of that song; it was nice to hear the crowd yelling along with the lyrics, but... but... :|
Anyway, let's skip to the encore, which was the best part. Apparently they ran into some fans earlier in the day, who asked them to play 'Great Romances', which they don't normally play. So I thought, oh cool, I like that song, etc. And then, after they played that, they started talking about playing a song that "they swore they'd never play", but it didn't even cross my mind that it could be...
THERE'S NO I IN TEAM.
I have never before at a concert been so overcome with emotion that I wanted to throw up. My stomach was so full of joy that I needed to void it. GROSS BUT TRUE.
Hearing/watching John scream "best friends means I pulled the trigger, best friends means you get what you deserve!" was the actual best. And after the song finished, he just kind of slumped over at the waist, like he'd been through this intense catharthis.
AMAZING.