Taking Back Sunday Band • Page 181

Yeah I wouldn’t say they are declining in popularity at all.

 

Eh, I mean, Tidal Wave was by far their worst charting release (since TAYF) and their recent tours, they've had to latch onto bigger names (Coheed/Dashboard) and open for them. Even their YouTube hits are a fraction of what they used to be.

Speaking for Cleveland, their Tidal Wave tour did not sell out the Agora Ballroom, which only has a 500 cap and they typically play House of Blues here (1,200 cap).

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved Tidal Wave and Happiness Is but there's no question they're not as popular as they used to be.

 

I also feel like they, more so than any other band from that era, are met more with a 'oh, they're still around?' or 'people still listen to them?' type of attitude. Just take a look at all the comments on their Facebook posts and that's the kind of stuff you'll see.

The band also seems to get pretty defensive about it too on FB and Twitter. They respond to a lot of that type of talk.

Again, I don't agree with those sentiments whatsoever because TW and Happiness Is are really, really good and I personally still go to their shows and support them.

 

Yeah, this band has drastically gone down in popularity. Part of it too is because of how much they toured the last few years, they came in upwards of like 4/5 times here in like a year time.

 

On the 8123 podcast John Nolan said he sees himself doing this at 50, so I don't think TBS is anywhere near being done.

In terms of popularity, they can sell out a room pretty much at will. Just cause they didn't sell out a small room in Cleveland doesn't mean they don't sell out huge rooms in NYC and LA every single time they visit.

Also, their manager handles their social media I'm pretty sure. So I doubt Adam or John are sitting there responding to comments.

 

Their manager has really weird attitude on their social media. There’s something about the presence that’s very flippant but if you’re not like “in on the joke” it comes off as very rude.

I wouldn’t discredit tidal wave or use it as a sign of their popularity because it didn’t chart well. I think hopeless truly dropped the ball on that one.

 

i feel like "Tidal Wave" being the lead single was very misleading and a huge misstep. "You Can't Look Back" would have gotten casual fans much more excited as a lead single.

 

I agree with you kind of. I wouldn’t say that is a sign of decreasing popularity but they’ve definitely over saturated the market. If they disappeared for a bit they could sell out bigger rooms. They come around so frequently and people in the New Jersey area are guaranteed to see them at least once a year during the holidays.

 

Tidal Wave sounded like a Ramones song and definitely not indicative of the overall sound of that record. I also think the fact that they didn’t release a single prior to the dashboard tour was a huge mistake. They release tidal wave with less than half that tour to go.
Also hopeless focused way too much on their other bands at the time. Yellowcard and Sum 41 got a lot of press at the time. Adam hasn’t held any of this back either. They wished him happy birthday last year and he made a comment like “thanks you know I’m not in neck dee right?”

Related, but hopeless also dropped the ball on bayside’s latest release. That didn’t chart well and was a steep drop from their last record.

 

I used Cleveland as an example of a city they toured very well in for years, and then had trouble selling out a smaller room in the same city. I don't think I'm wrong with using just Cleveland as an example as the entire Tidal Wave tour was smaller venues and if I recall correctly, many did not sell out or sold out last minute - despite being much smaller venues. Of course they can sell out the bigger cities just because there is a higher population there.

I never claimed John or Adam run their account, but out of all the bands I follow on social media, whoever is running their account seems to snap back a lot at people who talk about their past or not being as big as they used to or whatever. It's an offputting look at times.

I agree about You Can't Look Back. Personally, I think it's one of the best songs they ever wrote.

I'm probably a bigger fan of TBS than most on this website. I'm constantly in this thread and as I said, still buy their albums, go to their shows. But I don't think it's any secret that this band has nowhere near the popularity they once had. I'm surprised my original 'declining in popularity' comment was deemed controversial.

 

This is 100% correct. I was stunned to see how poorly Vacancy did. Despite being a really great album.

 

I guess it's just relative. That can be said for a ton of bands. TBS was all over MTV and radio at one point. WIthout another radio hit that popularity was impossible to sustain.

The same can be said for New Found Glory, Say Anything, The Early November, and so on and so on on.

 

The decline in popularity began when New Again ended up not being the hit they were hoping for, then Warner Bros. changed management and failed to market the S/T album, it’s singles and push the hype for the TAYF line-up reunion. With the Tidal Wave tour I think they intentionally played to smaller rooms because they wanted to do the album in full. They probably thought that move would go over better in smaller venues.

 

There was a lot of shit that happened with New Again and Warner definitely screwed up by not making summer, man the second single off that album (warner really pushed for where my mouth is I think, which was even done live for fuse and it just. Wasn’t a good choice. It was done at the end of summer too.) then I think TBS wanted to use a different producer but was stuck with the one they had for whatever reason. I think both TBS and warner were done with the arrangement by the time the lineup changed and the self titled came out. It took until last year to get that pressed on vinyl for the first time.

The smaller venues for the tidal wave tour were an intentional choice because they wanted an intimate feel I think. Also they just have a better energy in smaller places than in amphitheaters.

 

I didn’t know all of that about Summer, Man. That definitely would’ve helped to push that song, “Swing” or “Carpathia” for radio-play and/or music videos. Fuckin’ suits haha

 

Is this true? I always thought a lot of their replies to people had Adam's sense of humor in them, based off his own twitter and the way he conducts interviews. I am sure it's not always him but I assumed he did peruse the twitter every so often.

 

Their manager does their social media when they’re off tour for sure. Maybe they glance at it themselves on tour, but mostly it’s her.

I wouldn’t say Adam is averse to social media but it’s very obvious how little he uses it when he’s not on tour. One time their manager posted something she meant for her own account on the band account, which is how I know it’s not usually the band themselves. When I talk about their social media, I mostly speak about their twitter because I don’t have Facebook though I heard recently it’s really bad in the comments over there.

The overall attitude on the account really rubs me the wrong way though. The general tone is very...”old man yells at clouds.”

 

A lot of bands are losing traction in the live market. A member of the Walkman writes an advice column for AVclub and he mentioned the "middle-class" bands were the ones floundering a bit. Bands like Of Montreal and Broken Social Scene now play smaller rooms, despite being pretty big 10 years ago. I personally think people just have way less money to spend on live music and more options now.

 

Though I doubt it, it would be nice to see if TBS started playing some different songs on tour. They have 7 albums of material and play virtually the same setlist every time. I know Adam and John did an acoustic thing last winter and they played Sad Savior, saying they never got to play it because Eddie didn’t like to.

 

I agree completely. I feel like each album has 4-6 songs that they rarely play or never have played. It’s a shame because their back catalogue is pretty stacked

 

sad savior would be a treat. id really like to hear a few new again songs come back out. Sink into me is fun live. Some WYWTB deep cuts would also be great.

 

do they ever play little devotional? that's the only song they should ever play

 

They don’t and I will die on the “Little Devotional is a top tier TBS song” hill.

 

Its a top 5 for me

 

its easily their best song