On December 5th at Coca-Cola Coliseum, The Used joins Papa Roach on the Canadian leg of their “Rise Of The Roach” tour to celebrate 25 years since the release of Infest. Coming off of a stretch of their global 25th Anniversary album that started back in Spring and ended in Philly back in mid-November, it goes to show how much fuel the band can carry in the tank and how significant the year 2000 was for both bands. Focusing on their self-titled album from 2002, In Love and Death from 2004, and finally Lies for the Liars from 2007, their global tour gave fans 3 nights per city, and 1 album per night. On this tour, they kept the celebration going by condensing songs from each album into their set on top of a performance of Blood on My Hands from 2007’s Artwork later in the set which was a special one for diehard fans.
7:50pm sharp, the black curtains that draped in front of the stage dropped to revealed the 4-piece band who wasted no time kicking things into motion opening with Pretty Handsome Awkward, a choice that immediately sets the emotional tone for the night. It’s sharp, dramatic, and self-aware to get the crowd stomping and snapping the room to attention fast with its catchy intro riff and chorus. From there, the set leans hard into the band’s most beloved era, weaving through fan staples like Take It Away and The Bird and the Worm, both of which land with explosive singalongs but felt like a warm-up for what’s to come. Frontman Bert McCracken sounds fully locked in, still able to flip between fragility and ferocity on a dime with little effects applied to the mic, especially during I Caught Fire and All That I’ve Got, where the crowd takes over large chunks of the singing once again without being prompted. There’s a clear intention behind the pacing here: emotional peaks early, sustaining that momentum, and just keeping things light and rolling. With a band like them opening, this feels like a good approach to impress the crowd that came for their set without casting any shadows over the opener – pure sportsman-like conduct although thanking Papa Roach later in the set for “bringing the greatest band of all time” though jokingly has been a great gag.
As the set progresses, the band digs deeper into their catalog, rewarding longtime fans with cuts like Buried Myself Alive, Sound Effects and Overdramatics, and Say Days Ago, which feel massive in a room this size. These songs highlight how much of The Used’s identity is built on contrast, swinging between chaos and vulnerability without losing cohesion between AND within songs complimented with Bert being frank and candid with these older tracks are about his past relationship with drugs. Listening and Blood on My Hands kept the energy circle-pit high, while The Taste of Ink hits as a communal moment. What an incredible reminder of just how formative this band was for an entire generation of post-hardcore fans. Closing with A Box Full of Sharp Objects feels inevitable in the best way being the kind of closer that leaves voices shredded and arms sore from being held high from another unforgettable track from their self-titled. Then one last surprise was a brief Smells Like Teen Spirit snippet that capped off the closer. Having covered it in the past, it echos back to that lineage of angst and rebellion that the band clearly has a connection with.
On a tour shared with Papa Roach, a band equally rooted in early-2000s heavy alternative culture, The Used’s approach feels deliberate here. Rather than trying to out-muscle the lineup, they lean into emotional intensity and connection – something many reviews from this tour have pointed out as their biggest strength night after night. After 25 years, it’s clear they just know what the audience wants. Mixing nostalgia with urgency and theatrics with sincerity, they more than proved that these songs still resonate as they continue to show them love and give justice to performing them for the people that have been with them through their journey over the years. At Coca-Cola Coliseum, The Used revisit their past once again but more importantly, they remind people how their place in this scene was earned – they have their songs and fans to thank for it to this day.
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