Taking Back Sunday - The Union Event Center / Salt Lake City, UT
Article written and photos by Vanessa Holt
Following the release of their latest album, 152 Taking Back Sunday has hit the road this summer in celebration of the album release. The tour made a stop in Salt Lake City at The Union Event Center and we kicked off the summer night with a performance from Citizen, they started their set with I Want To Kill You from their album Life In Your Glass World and they had planned that perfectly, it was the perfect song to get the crowd up and off their feet. The energy in the room immediately changed once the song started with fans headbanging all along the railing and fans throughout the whole crowd jumping, during the chorus the volume of the crowd was matched exactly with the band and it was the perfect blend.
The energy stayed consistent throughout Citizen’s set even for some of their more mellow songs such as Blue Sunday. Their setlist was enough to get everyone moving a little in preparation for Taking Back Sunday, even concertgoers who had never seen nor heard of Citizen couldn’t resist not moving throughout the set. With an amazing opening, they had a killer ending closing their set with Death Dance Approximately, which is one of the most infectious songs to exist off the album, especially with a great drum beat and crazy bassline. Citizen’s raw indie pop punk was the perfect opening to the night.
Find Citizen at their individual links below:
Taking Back Sunday took the stage shortly after with a stunning entrance with the stage being backlit and a neon “152” in the middle for the band’s backdrop, it felt like one of those “as time stops” moments for the crowd to be hit with the realization that once again their favorite band is back on stage in front of them, they started their set with S'old off their new album. Their setlist had a good chunk of the new album scattered throughout, but they couldn’t leave their die-hard fans hanging, they had perfectly incorporated all the older songs throughout the setlist such as MakeDamnSure and A Decade Under The Influence since after all they do make some of the best sing-along songs.
Taking Back Sunday has always been one of those staple bands for the indie/rock scene and has been around for quite some time. Everyone can agree that it’s never a dull time seeing them perform at any stage of their career, every time they take the stage they’ve always put on a stellar performance with their meaningful songs that have made it so easy for fans to connect with them. Taking Back Sunday continues the 152 tour all summer long till the end of August.
