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This year, alternative rock legends The Used reached a major milestone: 2025 marks their 25 year anniversary as a band. To celebrate, the band hit the road for leg 1 of their 25 Year Anniversary Tour earlier this year, hitting major cities across the US, and later embarked on leg 2 this fall. This is not a standard tour, however; The Used is performing in each city for 3 nights in a row, playing a different album in full each night. Night 1 features a playthrough of their self-titled debut album The Used, night 2 features their 2004 breakthrough record In Love and Death, and night 3 features their 2007 fan-favorite Lies for the Liars. As leg 2 of the tour came to a close, Philadelphia was The Used’s final stop. On November 11, fans gathered at the Theater of Living Arts for one final celebration of In Love and Death. A completely sold-out show, The Used put on a performance to remember as they played their most acclaimed album track by track.
Opening for The Used was NYC-based rock band Atomic Life. For each show of the tour, The Used had a different local band open for them. Singer Adea Frances told the crowd that Atomic Life is a brand new band, having only released their first singles in 2024, and that opening for The Used so early in their career was an honor. The band recently came out with their first EP Sea to Drink in September. With a unique style reminiscent of classic punk rock, as well as dynamic vocals and incredible energy from Adea Frances, the crowd instantly became engaged with the performance, jumping and dancing along. By the end of the set, it was clear that Atomic Life gained many new fans that night.
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In between sets, a curtain was pulled up in front of the stage, signaling that The Used was about to hit the stage. As the clock hit 9pm, the lights dimmed as the crowd cheered. On the curtain, a projection played featuring about 3 minutes of archive footage of The Used during the In Love and Death era, as well as an old interview of frontman Bert McCracken explaining the impact that the album had on the band. As the footage ended, the iconic spoken-word intro of “Take It Away” began playing on the speakers. Once the instrumentals began, the curtain dropped revealing the band as the room exploded with excitement, with fans singing along to every word. During the second track, “I Caught Fire”, crowdsurfers already started making their way through the room.
Despite marking their 25th year as a band, The Used still maintains their bold, energetic stage presence that they became known for back in the early 2000s. Guitarist Joey Bradford and bassist Jepha headbanged and spun across the stage as they delivered electrifying riffs and rhythms, while Bert McCracken’s versatile vocals continued to inspire the crowd to sing along. Not only that, but the band also made sure to use their platform for activism; they introduced a song as “Free Palestine”, a cause that the band is known to be passionate about, frequently calling for the freedom of Palestine at their recent shows. McCracken also made sure to interact with the crowd many times throughout the show, making the celebration of In Love and Death not only about the music, but about the fans as well. McCracken high-fived nearly every crowdsurfer as they came close to the stage, and, at one point in between songs, he and the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to a 13 year-old fan. One of the most memorable moments of the show is when McCracken invited a young fan up on stage after noticing her in the crowd to experience their performance of their most popular song “All That I've Got”, surely creating a memory that she will never forget.
As the show continued, the crowd’s energy never dwindled. Besides crowdsurfing, moshing and circle pits also ensued. The fans heard many deep cuts, such as “Cut Up Angels”, which McCracken joked that they would “never play again” after that night. The venue was lit with flashlights as the band performed “Yesterday’s Feelings”, another deep cut, which McCracken described as “the most emo song”. However, the audience made sure to bring it their all for the final track “I’m a Fake”. They not only screamed along to every word of the spoken-word intro, but people continued crowdsurfing until the last note, and sometimes multiple people at once surfed through the room. Although The Used did not perform the official final track of In Love and Death, a cover of Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” that features Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, the band showed that the song was not forgotten as the original “Under Pressure” began playing on tape as they walked off the stage. As fans started leaving the venue, all that was discussed was how the show was the “best concert ever”, a fitting performance for the “best band in the world”.
