Take Action Tour brings positive cause to Indy

by Phil Coon The Take Action Tour 2013 made a recent stop at Indianapolis’ Egyptian Room, featuring headliners The Used with support from We Came As Romans, Crown the Empire, and Mindflow. The Take Action Tour was created to help people become aware of different causes and help raise money for non-profit organizations. This year money from the tour is being donated to the “It Gets Better” project, an organization designed to help LGBT youth that are being bullied, and to let them know that they are not alone and things will get better for them. The project is becoming known worldwide and many celebrities, bands and organizations have submitted videos for the cause. Now on to the concert. Opening the show was Mindflow, a little known rock band hailing from Brazil. Mindflow have a great sound and did their best to get the audience fired up and prepare them for the rest of the concert. They performed a short set, about four or five songs. Next to perform was Crown the Empire, an up and coming band from Dallas, Tex. They definitely got the crowd going, with a post hardcore sound. The crowd jumped up and down to the beat of the music and a huge mosh pit ensued. Normally not my kind of music but I really like this band, what I like most is that they have two singers one with clean vocals and the other screaming vocals and it works so well together. It’s almost like a battle of good vs. evil when you listen to the lyrics of their newer songs. Crown the Empire are a band to look out for. We Came As Romans performed next, they were just one of those bands I’ve heard good things about and they didn’t disappoint. The band had great energy and the clean vocals singer crowd surfed a couple of times throughout their performance. The other singer made a cool statement before playing the last couple of songs, pretty much going with the theme of the tour, letting people know that if you have been hurt, that you are not alone, and to make this world a better place everyone has to stick together and be there for one another. The crowd was really into them and they were just as popular as the headliner. Last but not least headliners, The Use,d came out and put on one hell of a show. Performing such hits as “The Bird and the Worm,” “Take It Away,” “All That I’ve Got” and “The Taste of Ink”. Lead singer Bert McCracken even gave the fans a special treat, performing a song that they haven’t played in a long time, “Pieces Mended” from their debut album. McCracken was a funny guy and had the crowd laughing through most of the set. He said that he watched this musical going on at the same venue, called Jersey Boys, which is about Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, of which he stated “Frankie Valli ain’t got shit on The Used.” Another memorable moment during their set involved a marriage proposal. A fan got on stage and McCracken introduced him; they called his girlfriend up to the stage and he proposed to her in front of the audience, McCracken’s responded to the proposal by saying “Welcome to hell buddy.” All-in-all The Used put on a great show performing songs that are well known and songs only hardcore fans would know. Overall the Take Action Tour was a success and new fans were made of all bands performing.