The Used - 25th Anniversary Tour - Sydney (17/08/25)

The queues outside Liberty Hall curled around Moore Park before doors opened — the kind of restless, buzzing lines that signal something special is about to happen. Merch was moving fast, bar queues even faster, and when Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ cheekily blared across the PA, the crowd laughed, sang along, and tightened their shoelaces. This was a room braced for chaos.


Canberra’s own Hands Like Houses opened the night with intent. Formed back in 2008, they’ve grown from local upstarts (then called So Long Safety) into a post-hardcore powerhouse — and tonight, frontman Josh Raven was determined to make Liberty Hall his playground. With Matt Cooper (lead guitar), Alex Pearson (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Joel Tyrrell (bass, backing vocals), and Matt Parkitny (drums) spanning the shallow stage, the band hammered into ‘Wildfire’ and ‘Parasite’, the huge backdrop behind them declaring their name in bold.

The set was lean but impactful. ‘Hollow’ and ‘Panic’ turned the screws, before a surprise cover of Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’ — faithful in its first half before detonating into their heavy, swirling interpretation.


But it was ‘ICU’ that detonated the room. Raven climbed down into the mosh itself, swallowed by a whirlpool of bodies as he sang from its centre. By the time he reappeared balanced on the barrier, belting out I Am, the room had tipped into frenzy. Their closer Heaven sealed it: “We’re not here to fuck around,” Raven declared, and Liberty Hall roared their approval.

Then came the main event. A projected reel of archive footage — audio snatches, flashes of their two-and-a-half decades of chaos — played across the white backdrop. Close-up hands held a CD copy of their first album, slowly opening the case — a visual cue of what was imminent. The words “you’re about to see the best band in the world” filled the room. A countdown began. At zero, the drop came: backdrop gone, lights blazing, and The Used — Bert McCracken (vocals), Jeph Howard (bass), Dan Whitesides (drums), and Joey Bradford (guitar) — exploded into ‘Maybe Memories’.

The stage design was deceptively simple: two risers flanking the front, a towering drum kit perched high with a kick drum emblazoned with a bold “25.” Behind it, a semi-circle of lights arced like a crown, firing beams out over the crowd. A row of additional floor lights at stage level blasted straight into Liberty Hall, giving the set a dynamic push-pull of intimacy and spectacle.

From the outset, Bert claimed it as a hometown show: “You might not know this — but this is my home show. I’ve been living in Sydney for 13 years! My two girls are right here at the side of the stage.”

The setlist was a gift to the faithful: ‘The Taste of Ink’, ‘Bulimic’, ‘Poetic Tragedy’, and ‘Buried Myself Alive’ rolled out in rapid succession, each met with raised arms and devil horns from the floor. Midway, Dan Whitesides tore into a thunderous drum solo that slid cheekily into a burst of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, drawing huge cheers before the band swerved back into ‘A Box Full of Sharp Objects’.

There was political bite, too: “This next song is a sing along — if you don’t know the words, sing your own fucking words. This one’s called Freedom for Palestine” — before they slammed into ‘Blue and Yellow’.

Crowd favourites ‘Noise and Kisses’ and ‘Greener with the Scenery’ hit hard, but the night’s centrepiece was deeply personal. Bert brought his daughters Cleo (11) and Minnie (7) onto the stage — one clutching a cuddly toy — and introduced them to the crowd. As Joey struck the opening chords of ‘On My Own’, the girls stood quietly beside him while Bert dropped to his knees and sang with raw, heartfelt emotion. No screaming, no theatrics, just an acoustic guitar and the sound of thousands of voices swelling into a gentle choir. Half the crowd raised phones to capture it, knowing they were witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime moment.

The finale came with chaos. “I want to hear you scream CHOKE ME…” Bert demanded at the end of the last song. At three, Liberty Hall howled in unison before the band tore into ‘Choke Me’, shredding, pounding, and collapsing in bedlam. House lights snapped on, and the crowd was left dazed, sweating, and ecstatic.

As fans spilled out into the night, one was overheard saying, “That was the best birthday party a band could throw themselves — 25 years and they’ve still got it.” Another laughed, “Hands Like Houses should’ve played longer — but damn, The Used just reminded us why emo never dies.” A third, gesturing with his phone grinned: “I’ve got passes for all three album play-throughs — if tonight was this good, the next shows are going to be insane.


Twenty-five years in, The Used didn’t just celebrate an anniversary — they proved they’re still a force, still a family, and still capable of turning a packed Sydney hall into one giant, screaming choir.

Thanks to the The Used, Hands Like Houses, Destroy All Lines, Dallas Does PR and the Liberty Hall for having us along.

Review & Photos by Andy Kershaw for Music Kingdom Australia