Sometimes it feels good to be a stereotype… such as the elder emo millennial. This group united in Cleveland, Ohio to see Taking Back Sunday during their Summer tour, greeting the band with a sold-out crowd.

The tour was in part a celebration of their 2006 album Louder Now with a setlist that nodded to the occasion. I loved that Adam Lazzara acknowledged the double edged sword of an album tour. On one hand, you’re celebrating meaningful art with people who love it. But on the other, you can find yourself stuck in the past.  I was excited to hear one of my original favorites, “What’s It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?” to kick off the evening, a perfect choice that had the audience screaming “louder now, louder now!” back at the band. Unlike traditional album celebration tours, we had a good amount of variety, excellent for me as a “Timberwolves at New Jersey” stan and “Tidal Wave” truther.

Really, the whole setlist was primed for the elder emo millennial classic move – finger pointing. Taking Back Sunday has the BEST finger pointing music, and giving fans “Liar (It Takes One to Know One)” towards the front of the set was the perfect choice. I recently read Where Are Your Boys Tonight? by Chris Payne (highly recommend!) where Glenn Gamboa describes them as music that “grabbed you by the collar,” a perfect summary.

I have to say, I was a little disappointed in my fellow fans for not bringing the energy. Granted, I watched mostly from the balcony, and I would love to find out there were mosh pits and crowd surfers out of sight. Dare I chalk it up to the millennial weeknight crowd? After all, the couple next to me bought their tickets that morning because they couldn’t find a babysitter until then. Still, these are emo giants. You stand and respect!

You can’t say we didn’t engage, though. A band long known for layering vocals, the crowd has the choice of following Lazzara or backing vocals from John Nolan as they trade off, getting the audience involved in a call-and-response.

Which speaking of energy… did a technician sit Lazzara down and ask him to stop treating microphones like yo-yo’s? I have to say, I missed this aspect of the show. This was my fifth time seeing them and, from crowd and band, definitely the calmest. I will acknowledge that House of Blues doesn’t give him much room to work with, but that didn’t stop gear from soaring over our heads at Bogarts, a similar space.

But to that end, the band acknowledged that we are all growing up together – maybe we don’t need to be moshing and crowd surfing to prove our fandom, just like Lazzara can do a little shimmy instead of throwing electronics in the air.

Most importantly, you know what we can all do? Something I’ve done for five shows now and will do for five more, because Taking Back Sunday never misses.

Point and scream “why can’t I feel anything from anyone other than you?”