Taking Back Sunday in Buffalo, NY
What I love most about music is its ability to enable time travel. Some of the best songs and albums instantly take you back to the era when you first heard them. You recall so much about your life from that point in time. My introduction to Taking Back Sunday came at the perfect time for me, my High School years. It was around 2003 or 2004 when I was becoming familiar with songs off of their first album, Tell All Your Friends. Then a best friend got an early copy of Where You Want to Be and that's when things really took off. Taking Back Sunday was a band that I not only latched onto immediately, and that opened the door to a whole world of music that I continued to gravitate towards, even today.
The band is winding down their 20th anniversary tour. Over the past year, they have been trekking across the world, celebrating their career-defining albums by playing them in full, over the course of two-nights in each city. Every night, they've performed their debut album, Tell All Your Friends from front to back, followed by either Where You Want To Be, or Louder Now, depending on the flip of a coin. These albums helped shape my formative years, so hearing them performed in full in a live setting was an experience I won’t soon forget.
I caught the second night of their stop in Buffalo, NY at Buffalo Riverworks, and got to hear Tell All Your Friends and Where You Want To Be. Red City Radio opened up the night, getting the crowd warmed up for the evening.
I was lucky enough to hear TAYF performed in full once before for the album's 10-year anniversary a few years back, so hearing WYWTB was extra special. It brought me right back to my parents’ basement, hanging out with best friends, listening on repeat while poorly trying to learn the songs on guitar. Despite seeing the band live countless times (possibly around 20 at this point) I've managed to not hear some of these songs performed live until now.
Through the years, TBS has remained an exceptional live band by packing their shows with energy, top notch musicianship, and crowd sing-a-longs that can't be topped.
The band finished out their Twenty tour this month, and concludes their year with their annual New Jersey Holiday show in December. Check out their greatest hits’ album Twenty, out now.
Photo Gallery - Taking Back Sunday: All photos by Keith Barker
Photo Gallery - Red City Radio: All photos by Keith Barker
