Photos + Review: Taking Back Sunday @ The FIllmore (Minneapolis, MN)

Taking Back Sunday (Long Island, NY), Citizen (Michigan)
June 21st, 2024
The Fillmore in Minneapolis, MN

I’ve got it bad!

Bad for Taking Back Sunday. 

20 years or so since first learning of this band, but only a handful of them have I fallen hard for. And I’ve fallen hard, with them becoming one of my favorite and most meaningful bands to see live.

It has been awhile since I’ve seen the band play in Minneapolis proper, and also photograph. Last time was back in 2019 at First Avenue, which ended up being my first concert together with my favorite person in the whole world. 2021 I got to see them play Metro in Chicago, bookending a string of first shows attended after COVID lockdowns.

I’ve become much more familiar with the band’s music since that 2019 show (what I wouldn’t give to travel back in time to see Louder Now played in full again), including the newest album the band released last year 152. It’s a great new album, and when I’ve seen a band as much as I’ve seen Taking Back Sunday, the hits in a setlist are always great, but I’m always appreciative of seeing new music being played. Support that stuff! Get it out there! “S’old” was great, “Amphetamine Smiles,” and all the others were great, performed well and sounded very close to the record. “The One” was my highlight of 152 when it came out and still is to this day, and that extended to this live show. I’m a sucker for a good love song, and it’s just so darn catchy! One of the biggest ear worms I’ve had over the last eight months.

To the classics, basically anything off Louder Now is going to automatically be a favorite of mine, and seemed to be the crowds as well. “Error Operator,” “Liar (It Takes One to Know One),” “What’s it Feel Like To Be A Ghost” all got me and the crowd moving, as the band even included a surprise edition of “Your Own Disaster.”

Outside of the music, one of the biggest draws for me to a Taking Back Sunday show is frontman Adam Lazzara. Besides oozing an undeniable charisma, he’s just a goofy dude that is so easy to like. So easy to get hypnotized by his swinging around his microphone all night. I definitely spent a significant amount of time thinking about all the practice put into getting it timed as well as he does. I enjoyed his rant about encores as well. Let’s all just do away with them, please? Just play the songs. Adam spoke about the longest wait for an encore being 38 minutes, and he said “instead of going through the wait of all that, if we did that we could have just play some more of the old stuff!”

Opening the show up was Citizen, a band from Southeast Michigan. They’re a band that I’ve been aware of for awhile and know they’ve received much buzz in the scene lately, and they showed why this night. I’m always impressed most by an opening band that can get the crowd amped up, dancing and jumping throughout, and also make their 30-40 minute set feel like five minutes, and that was Citizen. They’re definitely a band I’m going to be keeping an eye on.

To hell with you and all your friends. Thanks Taking Back Sunday and friends, for making this one good, fun night that I wish could have kept going longer.