Backstage Pass

     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. 

Taking Back Sunday introduced its new guitarist/singer Matt Fazzi, formerly of the band Facing New York, to its hometown crowd at a “secret” show last night at the Crazy Donkey in Farmingdale.
    “We told him if you guys didn’t like him he was out of the band,” joked singer Adam Lazzara onstage, as Fazzi received a huge ovation from the capacity crowd that even included the band Metro Station, featuring Trace Cyrus, Miley’s brother, who plays the club tonight.
    Fazzi replaces guitarist/singer Fred Mascherino, who left the band late last year to head his own band The Color Fred. “It’s a trip because it automatically puts me in a place where I’ve been trying to go by myself for a long time – playing music for a living, as my livelihood,” Fazzi said after making his public debut. “I’m just trying to soak it all up and have a good time.”
     The Rockville Centre-based band picked Fazzi in February, after a series of auditions with several indie rockers. “When [TBS guitarist Ed Reyes] texted me, I hadn’t even realized that Fred had left the band,” Fazzi said. “I went and we just vibed really well and played a lot of songs.”
    Reyes said when Mascherino left, Fazzi was the first person he thought of to bring in. “He was in this amazing band called Facing New York, which was one of my favorite bands that nobody knew about,” Reyes said. “He’s such a talented guy and he became one of my best friends over the years... We’ve always talked about starting another band and jamming together.I called him up and said, ‘Fazz, you wanna try?’ and he said, ‘Give me a week.’”
    Fazzi, who turns 23 on Saturday, will certainly get a trial by fire. His first official show in the band is Friday night’s show at Madison Square Garden, with high-profile festivals following later this summer. Immediately after joining the band, they began work on the follow-up to the album “Louder Now,” which hit No. 2 in 2006.
    “He’s got his own spice,” Reyes said. “Kid’s got a groove like you wouldn’t believe and everyone will hear when the new record comes out. He’s a big part of it.”
    So how are they going to deal with having two Matts in the band? Well, bassist Matt Rubano said last names are going to become very important. "His last name is cool," Rubano said. "So he's been going by Fazz and I'm answering to 'Bano. But whenever someone says Matt, there's going to be a bunch of guys going, 'Huh?'"

SETLIST: You Know How I Do / Error Operator / Liar / Set Phasers To Stun / One-Eighty by Summer / (untitled new song) / Cute Without the ‘E’ / Miami / Spin / Up Against / Bonus Mosh Part Two / (untitled new song) / A Decade Under the Influence / What It Feels Like To Be A Ghost / MakeDamnSure 

PHOTO: Matt Fazzi by Wayne Herrschaft for Newsday.

So Taking Back Sunday is still planning to officially reveal their new guitarist-singer to the world at Madison Square Garden on May 9, but they plan to give their Long Island fans a sneak preview.

There's an unusual show on Monday at the Crazy Donkey in Farmingdale featuring Envy on the Coast and some band called Lance Striker and the Rockoholics, who apparently sound a lot like TBS. Hmm. Coincidence? Guess we'll have to find out.

The band is more direct with its festival schedule. They're on the amazing bill on Day 2 of the Virgin Mobile Festival on Aug. 10 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. They'll be taking back that Sunday on the main stage with Bob Dylan, Kanye West, Iggy Pop & The Stooges and Stone Temple Pilots. Tickets for that festival go on sale Saturday through Ticketmaster.

They're also set for Day 1 of the Reading Festival on Aug. 22 and Day 2 of the Leeds Festival on Aug. 23, which is being headlined both days by Rage Against the Machine and Queens of the Stone Age.

Taking Back Sunday will take a break from recording the follow-up to "Louder Now" to open for My Chemical Romance at Madison Square Garden on May 9.

Pre-sale starts Thursday and tickets go on sale to the public at noon Saturday through Ticketmaster. Of course, this one-off show generates a whole lot of questions. Who (if anyone) is replacing guitarist/singer Fred Mascherino? Will they be playing any new stuff? Will they reveal a release date? Will the My Chem guys appear during their set or vice versa? Will there be more shows?

Guess we'll wait for answers.

PHOTO: Warner Bros. 

Taking Back Sunday drummer Mark O’Connell still isn’t sure exactly what went wrong.
    After a show in Phoenix in August, he simply stopped being able to walk.
    “I got off the bus and it just hit me and I fell to the ground,” O’Connell recalled. “The guys were like, ‘What are you doing? That’s not funny.’ And I was like, ‘I can’t move.’ They kept saying, ‘Get up, you’re fine’ and they got me into the hotel lobby and I sat on the couch. I thought I would be better after a while, but I couldn’t move. I crawled on the floor through the lobby and onto the elevator to my room. I thought in the morning it would be fine. I got up the next day and I just fell in the bathroom. I was sitting on the bathroom floor in tears.”
    That’s when O’Connell was taken to the emergency room and learned he had a herniated disc in his back. Doctors ordered him off the tour and confined him to bed rest.
    Aside from his appearance for TBS’ set at the Jones Beach stop of the Projekt Revolution tour, which O’Connell was only able to make after doctors injected steroids directly into his spine, he was able to do nothing but rest at his Long Beach home for weeks.
     “It was a lot of just sitting around,” O’Connell said. “It definitely sucked. I was on painkillers for a long time and I was so worried I might get addicted.”
   

Continue reading "INDIE-ROCK INJURY REPORT: Taking Back Sunday's Mark O'Connell" »

As the trailer says, the new Taking Back Sunday CD/DVD "Louder Now: Parttwo" (Warner Bros.) hits stores Tuesday.

Former Taking Back Sunday guitarist/singer Fred Mascherino is teaming up with -- guess who? -- former Taking Back Sunday guitarist/singer John Nolan and his new band Straylight Run for the first tour of his new band The Color Fred. The tour starts Nov. 19 and hits New York on Dec. 14 at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza. That will have to be The Color Fred's first New York area show after the release of its debut "Bend to Break" on Tuesday, now that the Nov. 1 show at Vintage Lounge in Levittown has been canceled.

Mascherino has plenty to say about his new band and his previous band in our interview here.

Hear "Bend to Break" here. 

Guitarist/singer Fred Mascherino confirmed last night that he has left Taking Back Sunday to pursue his solo project The Color Fred. On his mySpace blog, Mascherino said the decision "had been waiting for some time," and that it was "a hard day for a lot of us." His new album "Bend to Break," a bit more pop oriented than the Taking Back Sunday sound, is due out Oct. 30 on Equal Vision Records.

In a statement on its mySpace blog, Taking Back Sunday said they wish him well and will continue work on its new album. "No drama, just riffs," the band wrote.

Mascherino joined the band in 2003, along with bassist Matt Rubano, after guitarist/singer John Nolan and bassist Shaun Cooper left, amid a bit of personal turmoil, to form Straylight Run.

PHOTO: Mascherino (showing off his snazzy "Synchronicity" satin jacket), with Rubano and singer Adam Lazzara at Live Earth in July. 

The Color Fred’s debut “Bend to Break,” which is a bit poppier than TBS, comes out on Equal Vision on Oct. 30, and Mascherino is set to do a short run of shows to promote it, including a headlining date at The Vintage Lounge in Levittown on Nov. 1. (He’s also set to play Knitting Factory on Oct. 20 as part of a CMJ showcase with Saves the Day and the New Amsterdams.)

The Color Fred [mySpace]

Though Taking Back Sunday is holed up working on the follow-up to "Louder Now," there is a new single out this week featuring Adam Lazzara.

Lazzara adds his vocals to New Found Glory's version of the Cardigans' '90s classic "Lovefool" for their entertaining new covers album "From the Screen to Your Stereo Part 2," which hit stores Tuesday.

It's a follow-up of sorts to his equally unexpected contribution to Cyndi Lauper's "Money Changes Everything" a few years back.

In other Taking Back Sunday news, the band will release the "Parttwo" DVD (a follow-up to "Partone") in mid-November, featuring video footage from the band's "Louder Now" tour. It will also include a CD of B-sides and previously unreleased live tracks.

Hear "Lovefool" here