LIVE REVIEW: Taking Back Sunday @ University Great Hall, Cardiff
TAKING BACK SUNDAY are a band that have received some less than complimentary reviews over the past decade, but they’re also a band that this reviewer grew up on and has a very fond attachment to. Tonight, they’re performing at Cardiff’s University Great Hall, and there is already a reasonably large group of fans outside the venue by the time the doors open.
Support tonight comes in the form of Cardiff locals HIMALAYAS, who enthusiastically kick off the show to a half-filled venue. They’re no strangers to the local music scene, and it’s obvious that they have some fans in the small crowd. Their classic rock inspired sound is nothing we haven’t heard before, but they pull it off well, and are making significant moves in the industry. Before diving into their new single V.O.V, frontman Joe Williams takes a moment to talk about the “surreal” experience of writing the track alongside AC/DC’s Brian Johnson. Williams excitedly talks about the band’s upcoming support slot for rock legends FOO FIGHTERS in June, describing the opportunity as “crazy”. They end the set with a cover of COOLIO’s Gangsta’s Paradise, to which the growing crowd enthusiastically sings along.
Rating: 7/10
As the lights drop, TAKING BACK SUNDAY emerge to a wave of excited cheers. They’re dressed in the same matching outfits they’re wearing on the cover of their latest album, 152, and the five-piece quickly launch into their first track of the night, S’old.
Frontman Adam Lazzara displays some questionable dance moves (comparable perhaps to the way that Captain Jack Sparrow moves), and continues to swing his microphone around the stage in a fashion that has become synonymous with TAKING BACK SUNDAY’s live shows over the last two decades, barely missing his bandmates and photographers at some points throughout the set.
Lazzara takes a moment between songs to express how fortunate the band are for being able to do what they do, but this is pretty much the only crowd interaction we see. Despite past criticisms of their live performances, TAKING BACK SUNDAY deliver an entertaining show, weaving through tracks from their entire back catalogue. Fan favourites like Liar and You’re So Last Summer see the crowd swept up in the band’s infamous vocal harmonies (we’ve all tried to perform the “if I’m just bad news, then you’re a liar” / “maybe I should hate you for this” harmony in the shower, right?).
In the end, if you’re seeing TAKING BACK SUNDAY in 2024, it’s not just about the music – it’s about the nostalgia, the memory of being fifteen and seeing the MakeDamnSure music video on Kerrang! TV for the first time. The onslaught of mid-00s hits shows that TAKING BACK SUNDAY know exactly what their audience is looking for, and they close the night with the aforementioned 2006 hit, which sees the crowd erupt in excitement.
Rating: 8/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Cardiff from Stacey Perrin here:
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