The Used & Dead Sara

The Used, Dead Sara, and NOT Stars In Stereo

On June 10th The Used rolled into Seattle on the second to last date of their spring headline tour. With supporting acts Dead Sara, and Stars in Stereo, the lineup played to a capacity crowd at The Showbox Market. We here at Rock My Monkey pride ourselves on legitimate guitar driven rock made by real musicians. This is the exact reason Jeffrey Donavan did not give any coverage to Stars in Stereo. The band which features Dr. Phil's (yes that Dr. Phil) son Jordan McGraw on guitar seems like the biggest pipe dream of a true fund kid that has ever existed. For this specific reason we choose to only cover Dead Sara and The Used.

Upon hearing the announcement that Dead Sara would be supporting The Used on their spring headlining tour I really had no idea what to think. Normally a band like The Used would choose a better known seasoned act for direct support. However, upon seeing them I am extremely glad they went with such a group that had such a solid live show. The group fronted by vocal powerhouse Emily Armstrong came on stage to a dreary eyed crowd who was mostly there it seemed to see the headline act. Emily ripped through the first song with insane energy and got everyone’s ears to perk up. The band then took a giant risk in choosing a ballad for the second song. The track "Dear Love" started off slow but then roared to life as Emily blasted powerful vocals that filled the entire packed venue. Drummer Sean Friday provided just as much energy keeping the band in perfect time, alongside bassist Chris Null. Siouxsie Medley landed impressive licks to match Emily's strong rhythm guitar playing. The band picked up the energy with the track Monumental Holiday which saw the crowd come unglued and finally formed a mosh pit. By the end of Dead Sara's set it was clear to see why The Used picked this band as support. They are a band that are able to not only win over new crowds but have them eating out of the palm of their hands by the end of a set.

Following a lengthy set change The Used finally took the stage to a rowdy crowd waiting for the headliner to give them what they paid for. A Rock and Roll show, The Used did not disappoint in this at all. They took the stage and launched right into the new single "Put Me Out", the blistering track launched the crowd into a frenzy as the band took the energy level from zero to sixty. The opening number complete with a stage hand in a giant cigarette costume was the perfect way to open up a show. The band was very forthcoming with the fact that they would be filming a live video that night for the new song, and that it would center on crowd footage. This caused the crowd to proceed to go absolutely crazy through the night as the band played a wide range of tracks off their five full length records. To the delight of fans the band reached back in its catalog and played "I Caught Fire" and led the crowd in an awesome moment of crowd participation. The band counteracted the ballad by playing the crunching "Pretty Handsome Awkward" The band then finished the set, only to come back out to film a scene for the upcoming "Put Me Out" video. The film crew took roughly twenty minutes to get shots of the giant cigarette costume being jostled around in the crowd, those that weren't close to the action seemed bored and just wanted the band to quite jamming the same Metallica riff over and over and actually play an encore. The band and camera crew finally got what they needed, and played the track "Box Full of Sharp Objects" ending the show in true Rock and Roll fashion by trashing the stage. After all fans came to see a Rock And Roll show and The Used are clearly not ones to disappoint.

Both bands are playing this summer "Van's Warped Tour" and we here at Rock My Monkey highly recommend checking out both bands sets when the tour stops in your city.