13-16 August 2025 – The Tivoli, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Bec Harbour
25 years ago, a small emo band from Utah decided to make some tunes and have fun. Now, they are one of the biggest bands in the emo/post hardcore scene, and still thriving. After doing a co-headline tour with Papa Roach in 2023, The Used have made their return to Australia, to celebrate the band’s 25th anniversary, with special shows in major cities all over the world, playing the first three records of the band’s discography in full, over three nights. The Live Wire have been incredibly lucky to have been invited to all three album shows, so this article will serve a bit different to normal pieces that we do, as this will be about the entire experience for The Used, In Love and Death, and Lies for the Liars, plus a breakdown for the openers, Hands Like Houses.
Hands Like Houses – This Is My Paradise
Opening the three nights we attended, was Canberra based rockers, Hands Like Houses (HLH). And there could not have been a better pick to open these shows. As ‘September’ by Earth Wind and Fire blared over the speakers before the band walked out each night, the crowd got more amped with every show. Under dimmed lights, the lads walked out, and every night opened with the track, ‘Wildfire’. This was my first time experiencing the band’s new singer, Josh Raven. Raven also sings for acclaimed Perth rockers, The Faim, and based purely off the first performance of ‘Wildfire’, that singular track has shown to me what an asset to the band he has become in the last two years.
The next part of the set changed every night, on the first and third night, we got ‘Division Symbols’ and ‘Panic’, while on night two, we got ‘Overthinking’ and, my favorite HLH track, ‘Colourblind’. The rest of the set remained pretty much the same over the other nights. ‘Parasite’ was a song that went off massively, as well as the song Raven dedicated to those that felt lost and alone, ‘Hollow’. After ‘Hollow’, the band scattered off for an incredible cover of ‘Wicked Game’ by Chris Isaak. Raven did most of the song with nothing but a backing track, until the second chorus, where the band almost turned it into a metal track, which slammed.
The order of ‘ICU’ and ‘Paradise’ changed every night, but that didn’t matter, as every time we got both of these songs, the crowd went wild. Paradise even had Raven hit the middle of the crowd to perform on the floor, which was awesome. After one more throwback, with ‘I Am’, the shows all closed on the track ‘Heaven’, which is the song that introduced us to the Raven era of the band. Super grateful to have spent the last few nights with them. Very excited to see what the future holds.
Night 1
Night 2
Night 3
Night One – The Taste of Nostalgia
A white background dropped from the ceiling, as the crowd waited for 9pm to roll around. And almost to the second, the lights dimmed, as a video package played on the white canvas sheet, advising everyone to prepare for the night’s activities. A countdown played, before we got footage of the band circa 2002, showing the writing, recording, and touring of the bands break out debut record. After the package played, lights lit up the band through the sheet, as the intro to ‘Maybe Memories’ played. The opening vocals dropped the sheet, as Bert, Jeph, Dan, and Joey all moshed out on stage to the track. The staging for the band was awesome. Red carpet on the floor, with two elevated platforms around the drum kit, and Dan’s drums were elevated, with the text of The Used written underneath on a black banner. ‘Maybe Memories’ has been one of my favorite songs of The Used’s entire catalogue. So seeing it live again makes me so happy.
The Used – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
‘The Taste of Ink’ was obviously next, and imagine how loud you could think the “It’s four o’clock in the fucking morning” line was screamed. It was louder. I’ve never heard a lyric sung harder in The Tivoli before. But everyone was singing, swaying, and borderline crying as the song played. McCracken then introduced the night, with a big smile, before singing a song about “throwing up my food” in ‘Bulimic’. McCracken then checked in with the crowd, before telling the audience he wanted everyone to leave inspired. He asked for the rowdy crew to kick off, on the next track. He quickly deviated into talking about his sobriety, which drew a massive response, as ‘Say Days Ago’ played.
The Used – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
The next song started as a poem is what we were told, as ‘Poetic Tragedy’ played, as the band blitzed through classics like ‘Buried Myself Alive’, ‘A Box Full of Sharp Objects’, and ‘Blue and Yellow’. ‘Blue and Yellow’ drew probably the biggest sing along of the night upstairs where I was, which was surprising as I didn’t realise how popular that song was. McCracken then spoke about how he’s recently gotten his Australian citizenship, which I didn’t actually know he’d gone for. So McCracken is officially an Aussie now, which drew an Aussie Aussie Aussie chant. McCracken then did an energy drink from a shoe to celebrate, before ‘Greener With the Scenery’ played.
The Used – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
McCracken introduced the next track as the most emo song the band have ever done, as ‘Noise and Kisses’ started. “Brisbane, you can sing” McCracken proclaimed, as he mentioned the next song might see him cry on stage, as ‘On My Own’ played. Album closer ‘Pieces Mended’ then played, before we were treated to the secret track of ‘Choke Me’ to close out the show. The Used have always held such a unique connection to Australian audiences. This is probably the 12th time I’ve seen them since 2006, and every time they give everything. To see this celebration series of shows get the love it deserves has been so cool to see. Bring on In Love and Death tomorrow night.
Night Two – All That We’ve Got
Greeting us again on night two, was once again, the white backdrop. This time, showing us the history of the band between the end of the Self Titled era, and during the In Love and Death era. This was probably my favorite package of the three nights, as this is my favorite era of the band. Seeing all the flashbacks gave me crazy nostalgia, and prepped me for the unreal night that was about to unfold. The curtain dropped after the intro to ‘Take it Away’ played, as the crowd was bouncing like maniacs. The banner underneath the drums had been replaced, with the text logo for In Love and Death. Above the drum kit, the hanging heart lit up, as ‘I Caught Fire’ kicked in, and the mosh bounced again.
The Used – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
‘Let It Bleed’ was up next, and this one had some stank on it. The harsh vocals on this were so sick, and it’s not typically a song where the harshes feel overly pronounced. The crowd was so loud, it took McCracken a while to get a word out. After a “how ya doing Brisbane”, McCracken cracked through a cheeky grin “we’re going to play all of Lies for the Liars tonight”. The crowd had a laugh, as he goes “just kidding it’s In Love and Death“. McCracken then introduced ‘All That I’ve Got’, which had a beautiful new intro that featured the iconic vocal line on a piano.
The Used – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
McCracken then told Brisbane how much they fucking rocked, and called the crowd “fucking cunts”, which drew a massive laugh. “Let’s play some more songs from In Love and Death” he then proclaimed, as next was ‘Cut Up Angels’ and Listening, which was introduced to the crowd as “Freedom for Palestine”, which the crowd cheered very loudly for. The band then slowed down for the “emo as fuck” song, ‘Yesterday’s Feelings’. ‘Light With a Sharpened Edge’ was introduced as a song “from the album In Love and Death“, which everyone got a laugh out of, and ‘Sound Effects’ and ‘Overdramatics’ went hard.
The Used – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
McCracken mentioned again obtaining his citizenship, and even teased the idea of moving to Brisbane, which everyone in the room loved. He then said Jeph, Dan, and Joey should move here too, so he could hang with the boys, as they broke into a freestyle jam, called “hanging out with my boys”, which the crowd continued singing even after they finished playing. With three songs left, we got ‘Hard to Say’ and ‘Lunacy Fringe’, before the spoken word of ‘I’m a Fake’ had the entire venue screaming along. ‘I’m a Fake’ is definitely my favorite song from this record, so getting to see it one more time in this setting was so awesome.
Night Three – Pants on Fire
The final night once again gave us another trip down memory lane, as we witnessed the rise of the band off the back of In Love and Death, and into the band’s most ambitious record at the time, which tonight would celebrate, Lies for the Liars. The curtain dropped for the final time in Brisbane, as ‘The Ripper’ sent The Tivoli into mosh overload. There was also one more banner change under the drums, showing the text logo for Lies for the Liars. Chadam, the TV headed mascot for the record, was then lit up above Dan’s head, as ‘Pretty Handsome Awkward’ drew some crazy loud sing alongs. ‘The Bird and the Worm’ was somehow even louder.
The Used – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
McCracken soaked in the cheers for the first break in the set, as he welcomed Brisbane for the last night of these shows, which featured his personal favorite record. He spoke about how they rarely get to play songs from Lies for the Liars live, so to have the chance to do this album in full means the world to him. McCracken then shouted out Hands Like Houses as beautiful Aussie boys, and even called himself an Aussie boy, which he now is. He then introduced ‘Earthquake’, which led beautifully into ‘Hospital’.
The Used – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
McCracken then pulled a bunch of fans up on stage to be his back up dancers for ‘Paralyzed’, which was awesome. ‘Paralyzed’ is probably my favorite song from Lies, and seeing everyone else lose their minds to it was so awesome. McCracken then jokingly told the dancers to “get the fuck off my stage”. He mentioned how fun these shows have been, and asked for a big sing along for ‘With Me Tonight’. ‘Wake the Dead’ was up next, and man the opening riff of this track rips live so much.
The Used – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
‘Find a Way’ slowed the mood down with more beautiful sing alongs, and then ‘Liar Liar (Burn in Hell)’ returned the chaotic heaviness. McCracken then spoke about how he wants everyone to leave with big smiles on their faces, and with only two songs left, that would be a hard feat, because it was all coming to an end. McCracken then asked who has good self esteem, to which the crowd said no. McCracken then called the crowd “a bunch of fucking emos”, as we got the albums bonus track, ‘Pain’, then followed by ‘Smother Me’. Before the final song, McCracken mentioned how we get to enable his favorite thing to do, which is play on stage, and how grateful he is that he gets to do this for a living.
Final Thoughts – On Our Own
Sitting and reflecting on the post gig depression, celebrating 25 years of The Used showcased just how rich and deep the band’s early discography is. There were songs I was so grateful to hear again live, like I ‘Caught Fire’, ‘The Taste of Ink’, and ‘I’m a Fake’. But there were songs that I had truly forgotten how much I loved, like ‘Paralyzed’, ‘Choke Me’, and ‘Listening’. These shows have redeveloped my love for this iconic band, and also had me picking through the latest discographies, to find stuff I might have overlooked in the past. Bert mentioned on the final night they will be back very soon, so hopefully that is a tease for plans yet to be announced. But so long as The Used announce shows, you better believe I will be there.
The Crowd
