This past week we had the pleasure of covering the last night of the The Used’s 15th Anniversary Tour. Setting out across North America, The Used play two nights, two albums in each city. Night one featured their Self-Titled album, while the second night featured In Love and Death. We had the pleasure of seeing The Used play in Orange County at The Observatory in Santa Ana. Pick up their recent release Live & Acoustic at The Palace here
The venue parking lot was packed when we arrived. Night one sold out and night two, which we attended, was close to selling out. This was actually their second stop in Orange County on the tour, as they definitely have a big following in Southern California. Fans stood out front of the venue, and the line switch backed 4 or 5 times through the parking lot.
After doors opened, fans filed in to hear the opener.
After about 30 minutes The Used took the stage to a packed house. Their set was particularly interesting. They created a sort of graveyard type set, complete with two tombstones and one large tree. Suspended from the tree was a cartoonish looking heart, tied up with rope. As The Used took the stage the heart began to beat and light up, getting faster and faster. The band played a very energetic set including hits “Take It Away”, “I Caught Fire”, and “All That I’ve Got”. Bert McCracken’s vocals have not lost a beat, and the rest of the band was very animated the entire set. In between songs the band would talk about the inspiration behind their favorite tracks, as well as jam a bit on some of their favorite cover songs. They played a bit of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” as well as Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”, which was fun to hear! All in all it was a great set and fun to see The Used going strong after all these years.