The Used at The Dome, London, 22.5.25

To kick off the UK portion of their 25th Anniversary Tour, The Used took to the stage at The Dome to perform Lies For The Liars in full, with support from Lacey and Winona Fighter.

Lacey

Opening the evening was Nottingham-based alt-rock band Lacey, a perfect selection. This 5-piece had the perfect blend of sounds to speak to your teen years, but also fit in with the current climate where genre-bending seems to be the norm. Lead singer Graham Turner is the quintessential alt front man, with all of the grit and charm that is needed to have the audience fully buy into everything you’re giving them. In only 6 songs, they had the audience captivated and fully immersed in their set, they’re ones to watch for sure.

Winona Fighter

Iconic band name aside, Winona Fighter were explosive as soon as they came onstage. This Nashville three-piece, led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Coco Kinnon, gave the audience about a millisecond before launching into their set. If Kinnon wasn’t high-kicking across the stage with impressive dexterity, she was head-to-head (literally) with guitarist Dan Fuson as he mastered some impressive riffs. Throughout the ebbs and flows of some high-octane tracks, Winona Fighter are sure to have created some more fans in the audience that night, and if nothing else, the name certainly is a memorable one.

The Used

After the show The Used put on this night, it is no surprise that they are celebrating 25 years of success as a band. For the first of their 3 show run in the UK, they performed their 2007 album Lies For The Liars in full, with Slam Dunk South being In Love and Death and Slam Dunk North being their Self Titled album. Though Bert McCracken (vocals) and Jeph Howard (bass) are the only two members in the band to have recorded this album (Dan Whitesides (drummer) joined just after it was recorded), the entire band play with just as much passion as if they had crafted it with their own hands, with Joey Bradford proving just how quintessential a part of the band he is.

With multiple members of the band sporting keffiyehs, The Used remain unapologetically outspoken in their thoughts and feelings, a fact that helps them connect with their audience and create some of the scene’s most iconic tracks, many of which are on this album. 

Playing the album front-to-back meant that two of their most famous tracks were played early in the set, with the audience going truly feral with ‘The Bird and The Worm’ and ‘Pretty Handsome Awkward’ – with the band giving just as much energy right back to them. Whilst the latter half of the album isn’t as universally well known, the band perform it with just as much vigour and enthusiasm. The Used continue to perform for the fans and with the fans, encouraging copious call and response moments, with McCracken even getting members of the audience up onstage to dance during ‘Paralyzed’.

If The Used continue to perform as well as this, I can’t see their success ending anytime soon.