There may have been two lineup switches and a bit of mellowing since the band’s first two studio albums, but this two-night stay in town won’t be about that. Nostalgia, instead, takes center stage. Celebrating its 15 year anniversary, the Used are revisiting the early 2000s and the haywire emo-rock music that dominated the alternative scene by playing its first two studio albums cover to cover. Its self-titled debut is up first. The impassioned sophomore record, In Love and Death, featuring “Hard to Say,” a tribute to frontman Bert McCracken’s ex-girlfriend who died, is the coda to the band’s sentimental stay in Cleveland. Powered by McCracken’s ability to oscillate from smooth, alt-rock tenor to a piercing scream, “The Taste of Ink” performers hook the crowd from opening guitar riff to the later lighters-in-the-air track.
Sept. 13 & 14, House of Blues, houseofblues.com/cleveland
