The next chapter in the ever-evolving saga of Taking Back Sunday started with a bang Friday night, as the band made its Madison Square Garden debut.
Though the Rockville Centre-based band's 45-minute set was shorter than usual and the sound was a bit muddy, it did offer some clues about TBS’ next move, especially since the addition of guitarist/singer Matt Fazzi who replaced Fred Mascherino in February.
Opening with “Error Operator” and “Liar,” which showcase the heavy-hitting guitarwork of Ed Reyes and Fazzi, the band is concentrating on the hard rock end of their catalog and making those songs sound more aggressive than their original versions. (They even look more aggressive as bassist Matt Rubano bounded around the stage and Mark O'Connell pounded the drums.) Even the one still-untitled new song they unveiled, with lines like “I’m ready to begin again,” has more in common with Queens of the Stone Age than the emo-pioneering sounds of their debut “Tell All Your Friends.”
That doesn’t mean the band is ready to abandon its past, though, giving the early hit “Cute Without the ‘E’” a prime spot in the set and featuring singer Adam Lazzara scream, “Louder!” as the crowd sang along. But they do seem set on changing it, as a smiling Fazzi gave the backing vocals a poppier sound than the original, or as Lazzara busted out Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” in the middle of “A Decade Under the Influence.”
Though TBS is currently working on a new album in Brooklyn, they jumped at the chance to play The Garden, even unveiling a new backdrop (and t-shirt) that uses graffiti to change the iconic “I” in the “I (Heart) NY” logo to “TBS.”
“[My Chemical Romance] gave us a call and said, 'Hey, do you guys wanna play Madison Square Garden?' Lazzara told the crowd. And we said, 'That's not funny, man. That's a mean joke.' But they were serious.
The night also closed a chapter for My Chemical Romance, whose two-year tour supporting the great album “The Black Parade” ended Friday in grand style, headlining the venue where the band’s brothers Gerard and Mikey Way first developed their arena rock dreams at a Smashing Pumpkins concert.
In front of family and friends, as well as a capacity crowd, My Chem made the most of the memory with powerful versions of “Welcome to the Black Parade” and “I Don’t Love You” and a dramatic take on “Helena” that left the crowd wanting more.
SETLIST : Error Operator / Liar / Set Phasers to Stun / One-Eighty by Summer / (untitled new song) / Cute Without the ‘E’ / Spin / A Decade Under the Influence / What It Feels Like To Be A Ghost / MakeDamnSure
PHOTO: Matt Fazzi at Madison Square Garden by Charles Eckert for Newsday.