Taking Back Sunday frontman Adam Lazzara takes the genre of emo and his band’s name very seriously, to the point where he is offended by the now former name of a long-running monthly emo event at a Los Angeles, CA venue. Since late 2014, a group of promoters in Los Angeles, CA have been running a emo-centric event named ‘Taking Back Tuesday‘ during the first Tuesday of every month. The event is currently held at the Echoplex and various musicians from the genre have taken part over the years. Lazzara however doesn’t find the homage flattering, as he told Billboard.com:
“Those motherfuckers owe me some money. They’re using our name, they didn’t ask. It’s flattering, I get it. But also, I don’t want to become a parody of something I take real seriously. That’s the line that those people are walking. They need to understand that they’ve got to take care with that shit. You don’t make shirts that say, ‘Sad as fuck.’ Like you’re making a fucking joke out of it? Fuck you.’”
The event itself has since been rebranded as ‘Emo Nite‘ and the promoters behind it told Billboard.com of Lazzara‘s unhappiness over the matter:
“When we started this night in December 2014, it came from a place of love and admiration for the genre that saved our lives and made us who we are. This was never to be seen as a joke, and the response from our event attendees and the artists who have been involved has been incredibly positive.”
They continued:
“It is unfortunate that Adam feels so much animosity towards a night created to celebrate and support the genre of music that continues to embrace his band. Our events have brought together like-minded people who have become a family that support each other. In regards to the financial compensation, what began as Taking Back Tuesday (We never once used the name ‘Taking Back Sunday‘) turned into Emo Nite in a full rebrand in 2016…
We have always respected and been fans of this genre and will continue to support it. If Adam ever wants to come experience the event for himself, we’re positive he’d have a different opinion and we’d welcome him with open arms. And, at the end of the day, the night was meant for everyone to just have a great time.”
