THE USED - LONDON ASTORIA Monday 20th September 2004 Reviewed by Cars

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Getting into the Astoria after the support act was probably a good & bad thing. Good because they would no doubt have been awful (9 out of 10 support bands are - I've surveyed!). Bad for the half of the people I went with that wanted to go downstairs. It was so packed nobody else was being allowed in so reluctantly they joined me & my cup of water upstairs to endure not being stamped on, actually being able to see the stage & not being so smelly after gig that you get a whole carriage to yourself on the tube. The poor things! The band burst on stage at the fairly early time of 8.45, I'd guess because most of their fans had school the next day. The Used are a band adopted by teenagers which is almost a shame as it no doubt puts other people off listening to them. Their debut album was unquestionably one of the best metal albums released that year yet it by & large bombed. But no matter, it means I get to see them in small venues like this & still get home in time for Bands Reunited on VH1 - nice! The show kicks off with Maybe Memories & they played around half of their debut album. A couple of new tracks (the lovely All That I've Got being one of them) are debuted which seem to be embraced by the crowd (they appeared to be kicking each other in equal amounts during both new & old songs). Bert's vocals are incredibly strained & if you didn't already know the lyrics there's no way you'd understand a word he was singing. He's a good front man though, interacting with the crowd & being incredibly cheesy with emotional "I love you" type speeches, which the eager audience laps up. It's a shame some of his energy couldn't have been saved to actually help him give the songs justice. The Taste Of Ink was not only played way too early on in the set (it's the perfect show closer), but, seemed to just falter & not be the gig anthem it could & should have been. On a more positive note the stunning Blue & Yellow, which would send tingles down the hardest of person's spines & was absolutely the highlight of the show. The appearance of the singer from Funeral For A Friend was met with bemusement & was pretty pointless (who cares?). However, along with the excellent new track Take It Away to the "oldies" Buried Myself Alive (that was foolish wasn't it?!) & A Box Full Of Sharp Objects you sorta forgive their shortcomings tonight. An enjoyable gig from a band that deserve more recognition than they actually get. 7 out of 10

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