The Used, Hevenshe @ Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide 28/8/2025
Sequels. They’re always bigger, bolder and badder than the originals. More toys to play with, more road miles under the hood and more problems to write about. For The Used, it’s In Love And Death, the sophomore masterpiece, and it’s 2004 all over.
Night one, 2002’s Self-Titled threw up a memorable walk down the past of said year that involved home videos, a rocking time relevant playlist and a precision performance that made those songs sound better then ever before. No pressure however, will the sequel live up to the hype in Adelaide on night two?
Also returning for the sequel is Jenna MacDougall’s Hevenshe project. Swapping the songs in the setlist around to keep those showing up early surprised, the pair perform smooth sounds of summer dreams and candy floss. The ever-affable MacDougall a beacon of warmth and style for all who watch her perform.
One of the Easter eggs from night one was the playlist between the artists spots that lent itself to year the headliners album dropped. Well, I can delightfully say tonight was 2004 again. Britney, Eminem and Jojo subtly transporting the crowd’s subconscious back to 2004.
Another fantastic aspect of the three shows is you can pick your poison or go to all three. If you do, I can assure you that while the format runs similar, there are different ingredients to the magic potion of the performance each night.
The screen counts down to the videos of the band in 2004 and then, like the album, the guys explode on stage.
Take It Away and I Caught Fire ignite the audience who clap, sing and expel those demons from youth. Yes, this sequel is bigger, it is grander and the cast more vociferous.
The stage itself is a snapshot of the album cover, a hung red heart perched high and centre, illuminating during Let It Bleed.
The album itself was an emotionally deeper album than the debut, with the melancholy of All That I’ve Got and Hard To Say, poignant, touching and sparkling light in the blown bubbles.
The contrast is the anger and rage of Listening and I’m A Fake which whirl circle pits in motion. The high and lows of the bands then 2004 history replayed twenty one years later, ever vivid and raw.
McCracken is devilish and charming as he engages in a semi food fight with drummer Dan Whitesides early in the piece while before the emo-meets-reggae tune Lunacy Fringe he offers a T-shirt to best dancer. The question is, did we get a winner because a lot of people around me have sore feet from dancing with carefree joy?
As the crowd recite the spoken word intro to I’m Fake word for word, the bands’ ability to remind you of days when albums took you on a journey through hills and valleys, dynamics of power and loss, is paramount. Those really were the days when bands poured their soul into a dozen tracks, each one as important as the other. Seeing it replayed on stage tonight is a privilege.
The sequel delivered its big budget box office success tonight that it teased. Now for the trilogy’s epic ending tomorrow.
Live Review By Iain McCallum