Queens-based veteran punk combo Bayside delivers sick riffs and gut-wrenching lyrics to House of Blues Cleveland on June 6th 2022.
If you grew up listening to artists signed to Victory Records, then chances are you've listened to Bayside or at the very least, some of their former label mates - Atreyu, Taking Back Sunday, Thursday, Between the Buried and Me, to name a few. If you have no idea who Bayside is or aren't familiar with hardcore, post-hardcore, punk or emo music, then allow me to introduce you to the line-up (from left): singer/guitarist Anthony Raneri, bassist Nick Ghanbarian, lead guitarist Jack O'Shea, and drummer Chris Guglielmo.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, allow me to share with you the experience of seeing a Bayside show. The band was met with a roaring cheer from the crowd when they opened their set with "The Walking Wounded," the first track off their 2007 release of the same name. They transitioned from there to hits like "Already Gone" and "They're Not Horses, They're Unicorns" to their newest single, "Strangest Faces," released on Hopeless Records just last month. One of my favorite moments of the evening was hearing the crowd sing louder than the band as they closed their set with the fan favorite "Devotion And Desire." You could see the transmission of energy between the fans and the band, which was nothing short of inspiring. With so much ugliness happening in the world right now, those four walls were a place to feel okay despite the hate and a reminder that it's possible to coexist peacefully, even if only for a 45-minute set.
All photographs captured by Mollie Crowe (Little Blackbird Photo) at House of Blues Cleveland on 06/06/2022.