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Summerfest kicked off on Thursday with a wide array of headlining acts, but few remain as consistent as perennial emo powerhouses Taking Back Sunday, who headlined the opening night at the Generac Power Stage. While 25 years of near non-stop performing can take its toll on any act, frontman Adam Lazzara and company refused to show any signs of slowing down with an hour-plus set that mixed classics with contemporary.
Lazzara led the charge for the band, maintaining an ever-present stagger as he navigated a set of light up stairs on just about every song. His voice, however, would also feel just a bit unstable at times, thanks to a combination of a stage presence that doubles as a day's worth of cardio and a microphone that would tap out just a couple of songs into the set. Likely the victim of Lazzara’s trademark mic swings, there was an awkward moment when the backup mic with excessive amounts of cable wasn’t turning on as well. Once things were back up and running, however, so was the band and at full speed on “What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?”
While the set featured a glowing logo from the band’s 2023 album “152,” material from the new record was handled with care, peppered in amongst the safety of material from the band’s biggest records. Some of those records are (sorry for this, 2000s emo kids) over two decades old at this point. In many ways, though, songs from “152” felt crisper than the songs that have become TBS staples, and Thursday felt like a fitting advertisement for the newest album to a crowd that may go back to the earlier days by default on their streaming platforms. Lazzara donned a guitar for “Amphetamine Smiles,” and things went down a notch for “Lightbringer” later in the set. “Keep Going,” however, played third from last for the night, and it packed one of the hardest punches of them all.
For many, though, the set was about a barrage of emo classics that the band put out in the early years of the millennium. When Lazzara’s voice wouldn’t keep up with his erratic dance moves, guitarist John Nolan filled in nicely, holding down his end of the band’s dueling vocals more often than not. It’s the mark of a veteran band to have something to fall back on, and on Thursday, in all aspects, Taking Back Sunday had an element of their show to fall back on. It was comfortable. It was familiar. But it also worked every time.
While there was plenty of personality and energy from the band, it mostly shined while they were actually playing. Lazzara kept the stage banter to a relative minimum, but held a loveable charm about him when he did address the Generac Power Stage audience. He was almost in disbelief when he talked about his day, saying that he walked around the Summerfest grounds and enjoyed the proximity to the lake while being tempted by “strange foods.” He praised fellow headliner Brittany Howard, who was playing at the same time at the BMO Pavilion, and waxed poetic about her first album, “Jaime.” He did all of this with a playful awkwardness that amused the crowd and, most importantly, didn’t feel canned.
One of the best feelings at a concert, no matter the band or genre, is when the night feels like a communal experience. Thursday night, Taking Back Sunday brought that, showing their strengths as a band that has aged gracefully while many of their contemporaries from the explosion of pop punk and emo can’t exactly say the same. They were just as powerful as they’ve always been and continue to put in every ounce of effort when it comes to their performances. That’s becoming rare territory, but the band showed exactly why that makes all the difference.
