The Used - 25th Anniversary Tour
by Kayla Gaddis | May 8th , 2025
All images are from The Used -25th Anniversary Tour in Los Angeles, CA on 5/8/25.
Photo by Kayla Gaddis | @filmedbykayla
The Used is a pop punk/emo band from the early 2000’s that has been making big moves in the music scene for a long time. They are celebrating 25 years as a band with a tour playing 3 nights in each city. Each night is dedicated to one of their first three albums: The Used, In Love and Death, and Lies for the Liars. The band’s music is all about feelings, emotions, and pouring your heart out with lead singer Bert McCracken sharing a lot of his own struggles in his lyrics. The connection the band has made with fans is deeply personal and it is evident in their live shows.
As a fan myself, I was so stoked when asked to cover one of these once in a lifetime nights. I had zero hesitation when choosing which night to shoot and went ahead with the debut album, The Used. Seeing “The Taste of Ink” live would have made the teenage version of me lose her mind. Hearing these tracks live was everything I had hoped for and more.
Night one of their sold out LA shows kicked off with a huge curtain drop immediately jumping into the first song off the album, “Maybe Memories”. It felt like being pulled back into my early teenage years. The crowd was full of energy and highly engaged all the way to the back of the venue. The second Bert started the opening lyrics to “The Taste Of Ink,” the crowd went WILD. I snapped some of my favorite crowd shots to date at this show as the energy was just on another level. Everywhere you turned, fans were belting out every word INCLUDING the photography pit.
I absolutely love getting to witness music bring people together and The Used did nothing short of that. They proved very quickly why they have been such a big name in the scene for over 2 decades. If you ever have the chance to catch them live DO NOT MISS IT! This band knows how to turn a show into a lasting memory.
