Show Review

Bayside has had a rough couple of months. Whether you loved them hated them, everyone’s heart went out to them when they lost drummer John Beatz and badly injured bassist Nick Gahnbarian last October in a van accident. On January 26th, Bayside finally took the stage for the first time since the accident as a full band, with a fill-in drummer and bassist. But it just was not the same.

After a local opening act was The Chasing Game. These guys and girl were thrown on the bill at the last second and they were a good fit. They had a sound that was akin to Paramore, or even No Doubt. The lead singer, Graci, had a simply amazing voice and the instruments behind her complimented her perfectly. You should definitely check these guys (and girl) out. A solid opener.

Next up was the Tooth and Nail act Sullivan. These guys were the big surprise of the night. They took the stage and totally blew me away. The vocalist, Brooks, was a combination of Aaron Marsh of Copeland and William Beckett of The Academy Is… and was always moving and shaking. The stage presence was great and they were even telling jokes in between songs. (“Hey we are going to be up in Detroit tomorrow if you want to hang out. Did you know they not only make cars there, but they steal them too?”) Sonically, these guys were awesome. The guitars were full and lush and the bass was heavy and pulsing. It was just a great rock and roll show. None of the songs sounded the same and it was kind of scary that these guys are only going to get better. Be on the look out for them in the future.

Punchline took the stage next and jumped right into “Not Afraid.” Just as I remember these guys never stopped moving and were full of pop punk goodness. They blew through all of my favorite tracks from their most recent effort “Action.” But threw in two songs from their forthcoming disc “37 everywhere.” The new tracks weren’t exactly a departure from their previous sound, but showed growth. One of which was called “Don’t try this at home,” which they played live for the first time ever and came off pretty well. On the whole it was a great performance, but you could definitely tell it had been a while since they had played. By the end of the set, I could hear each member’s vocals getting lazy and tired. But it was still a great show. As I stood there listening to my favorite Punchline song, “Battlescars,” I wondered why these guys weren’t bigger.

Finally, Bayside took the stage and the whole sold out crowd flipped out. Starting off slowly with a quiet laidback rendition of “Blame it on Bad Luck” and flying into the full out rock version, Anthony and Jack never skipped a beat. Playing mostly tracks from their most recent and self-titled effort, the guys seemed happy to get back out on stage. Both guitarists were tight and crisp (even when I moron crowd surfer kicked the mic stand it gave Anthony a fat lip) and sounded even better than I remember. However the performance seemed to be lacking something. The new/substitute drummer had a tendency to drag the songs down tempowise, and the new bassist (who some of you might know as THE NIGHTBEAST) was constantly out of tune and the bass kept cutting out. But, that wasn’t enough to ruin the show. It was great to hear songs like “Evelyn (Existing in a Crisis), “Tortures of the Damned” and “Guardrail,” but tracks like “Just Enough to Love You” and “Cold and Blue and Lifeless” were mysteriously left off the setlist, much to my chagrin. After “closing” with “Masterpiece,” the guys came back out and played “Poison in My Veins” as an encore and left everyone just spellbound. Though the show had some glitches, and the setlist wasn’t as perfect as it could have been, it was just really great to see these guys out and playing again.

review by Alex Drumm