The Used and Story Of The Year perform at the Stone Pony Summer Stage 7/12/24

Written by wmscweb on August 3, 2024

Review by Amber Bintliff

Published on August 3, 2024

The Used brought their summer tour to the iconic Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park,
NJ on July 12, 2024 with Story Of The Year and Amira Elfeky.

The night began with a hauntingly beautiful performance from Amira Elfeky. Her voice was
seriously incredible and gave me full-on chills. I’ve found myself listening to “A Dozen Roses”
and “Secrets” constantly since hearing them live.

This was my first time seeing Story Of The Year and I really don’t know what took me so long.
They were insane! Getting to hear a handful of songs from the classic Page Avenue album live,
including “Until the Day I Die,” filled my little emo heart with such joy. They were also joined by
Jason Milbank of Senses Fail, who stepped in for a few shows to play bass for the band. The
most exciting part of their set for me, however, was when they sang “War,” my favorite from their
2023 album Tear Me to Pieces. I was extremely thrilled upon finding out this was on the setlist
and getting to sing along to it was one of the highlights of my night.

Having spent 24 years in this industry, The Used have certainly mastered the art of putting on
an unforgettable show. The thing I love most about seeing them live is that it always feels like
I’m listening to the playlist I made in 8th grade when I first discovered emo/pop-punk music. Just
me, my first non-flip phone, and “The Taste of Ink” blasting through my wired earbuds against
the world.

My favorite album of theirs is 2004’s In Love and Death, and a good chunk of the setlist
consisted of songs from this record. While they played all the hits, they also managed to sneak
a few newer songs onto the set, including Toxic Positivity’s “Giving Up” and the title track from
their most recently released b-sides album, “MEDZ.”

After last year’s show at the Stone Pony left me completely drenched from the rain, it was nice
to see The Used with significantly less precipitation (it only faintly drizzled this time!). Even Bert
McCracken cracked a joke about it though, saying it seems like every time they play at the Pony
they bring rain with them.

They closed the night with “A Box Full of Sharp Objects,” and watching everyone in the crowd
sing their hearts out for one last song was truly magical. It was one of those moments that
reminded you how special live music is for bringing so many different people together, even for
a short period of time. The Used and Story Of The Year put on a fantastic show that left me in
awe of their talents and wishing I could go back in time as soon as it was over.