basically, i suck at blogging.

last night was a flashback to my childhood with my favorite favorites, bayside.
at this point, i've kind of lost track as to how many times i've seen them, but it's somewhere around 18 times i think. could be more, could be less, but hell, i don't feel like tracing back the last 4 years and counting how many bayside shows i've been to.
anyways, it was one of the better bayside lineups in a while, including envy on the coast and i am the avalanche. to say the least, i was pretty stoked. i got to irving around 4:45, only to find a million other people already lined up, but thankfully, i had a friend who had gotten there like an hour before, so i got onto the line with her.

even with getting there so early, i ended up on the very edge of the front row on the barricade. and of course, by the end of the show, i was in front of that barricade, enjoying the good life next to a security guard because that's how i roll.

the first band, bridge and tunnel was alright. nothing i'd listen to regularly, but i'm sure a lot of people like them. the crowd seemed less than enthused though. probably saving all of their energy for i am the avalanche, who may i just say, killed it.
vinnie caruana is just a really charming, badass dude. they're a lot of fun live, and the energy they have just radiates through the whole audience, whether you like them or not. i could've done without the guy butt raping me throughout their entire set.

next up was envy on the coast. i always forget how much i love them because i just neglect listening to them often. they were really quite lovely, and their cover of "empire state of mind" that ran into "the gift of paralysis" basically made my month. it was beautiful, and i always love seeing the entire crowd singing the line "throwing punches at ocean waves" while pumping fists in unison. it's beautiful.



the long anticipated, bayside came on shortly after. i hadn't seen them play a legitimate show (not including bamboozle and warped tour) since last november, so this was quite a treat. their setlist doesn't really change much from show to show, but i was glad that they played a lot from their self-titled rather than filling up the set with songs from shudder. i expected at least a few songs from sirens, but sadly, all we got was "masterpiece." i'm not complaining though, the set was met my standards and left me satisfied.



they closed the show with "hello shitty" and "devotion and desire" as usual, and i grabbed the setlist, this time only getting yelled at a little bit by the security guard. he didn't drag me off of the stage this time. thank goodness.
i wandered around, caught up with mr. and mrs. ghanbarian and headed home, smiling.






honestly, i don't even know what it is about bayside that makes me so happy.
they never fail to amaze me.

the beginning of my birthday week.

so far so good. two great shows this week, and two AMAZING shows coming next week, and i'm so stoked.

on thursday, i saw anthony raneri of bayside perform an acoustic set, with vinnie caruana of i am the avalanche and destry (ex-straylight run members) opening for him at maxwell's.
it was nothing short of fantastic. anthony raneri is one of my favorite musicians, which is to be expected considering i've seen bayside sixteen times or something ridiculous like that.

the first band, destry were totally adorable. i've always really liked michelle da rosa's voice, but i was never straylight run's biggest fan or anything. i think i appreciate this band more. much more.





next up was vinnie caruana. may i just say, he is a total badass, and i love him.
he totally flipped out on some assholes in the audience and threatened to knock them out if they were rude one more time.
i commend him for that. but anyways, he's just awesome in general. super charming and just an awesome dude.





last but not least, was anthony raneri. he never fails to impress me, whether he's playing an acoustic show or if he's with the rest of the boys. he did a few covers including "good fucking bye" by alkaline trio and "i will follow you into the dark" by death cab for cutie. he also did a new song which he had written this week. it was fantastic.



sadly, he didn't do any songs from sirens because apparently they sound bad when it's just him on the guitar, and he needs jack in order to sound good. i don't blame him .... it's true.
hopefully they'll throw in some old songs for warped tour.
i'd like that very much.

a bamboozle sampling.

going to see star trek now!

update!

so last weekend, i was busy busy busy ... but in the end, kind of disappointed with everything.
i hate seeing my favorite bands, but being dissatisfied because i didn't get a chance to say hello to them.
that's what last weekend was like.

i saw bayside on friday ... i've seen them 13 times, and have never been disappointed after a show.
by no means was their set bad, THEY didn't suck ... they were great, but their crowd was not so great.
i guess it was the first time seeing bayside for many kids in the audience, so they don't know how shit runs when it comes to seeing bayside.
there were two extremes, the ridiculous people who were being overly violent and the debbie downers who were leaning against the wall not singing along. really, i've never seen a bayside crowd like that ... EVER! and frankly, i never want to see anything like that again. their new york shows are supposed to be the best ... don't fucking ruin it.

they played "guardrail," which in the 3 years that i've been seeing them, i've only seen them perform it TWICE. this being the second time. i was amazed, i was intrigued. that might've been the saving moment of that night.

setlist:


i ended the night with no hugs ... peculiar.
i miss them, and i hope to god they don't just disappear on us.
i know for a fact though that they won't ... jack, nick, chris, and even ant are some of the most genuine people i know, and they wouldn't abandon their friends, or their fans ever.



the next morning i awoke ... tired.
but i was getting a ride to see the academy is... at starland at noon.
it wasn't my choice to go that early, trust me, haha.
the meet and greet was only open to slh members ... in which, i am NOT.
i honestly don't think meet and greets should discriminate. really ... it was absurd.
but the m&g was only a table signing ... nothing special or intimate about it.
unlike last year's m&g where we had all the time in the world to converse with every member, take pictures, and do whatever basically.

anyways ... again, with the horrible people in the crowd.
some horrible mother felt the need to kick and punch everyone in her vicinity so that her bitch-ass daughter could have a "nice view of bill" ... i wanted them to leave.
i ended up in the front for TAI, and i didn't even have early entry like everyone else in the front.
they never fail to impress.
"down and out" made my night ... it's such an amazing song.



they're an wonderful band, but i'm afraid that they're following in the footsteps of their fellow label-mates panic or fall out boy.
the venues they play are getting bigger and bigger, and you have to pay to meet them.
i don't believe in paying to be a fan. it doesn't make sense.
isn't love enough pay?
whatever ... i give up.

i have no more shows this month.

this is r-e-a-l-i-t-y

so my boys in bayside are releasing their fourth full-length album entitled shudder on september 30th, and i told myself i was gonna just wait until it came out to listen to it, but i couldn't help but download the leak. don't kill me, jack!
of course i'll still buy it. hell, if i had the money, i'd buy 100 copies, but times are tough my friend.
i'm a student, and i don't have a job, and i spend all my money on tickets, so therefore, i don't have enough money to buy 100 copies.
but i figured, that now that i've listened to it about a million times that i might as well tell you a little about it.



it opens with the catchy track entitled "boy" ... not a far stretch from anything else they've come out with. the chorus is what really got me excited. before i heard the album, these lyrics were circulating the interwebs, and i was just so excited what it would sound like "now is your chance boy just ignore the dreadful things they say, go on give up you’ll never win no crying now, they're watching him, his blood will boil and the kids will sing, learn to drown before learn to swim"

this then flows into the next track "the ghost of st. valentine," which is overall a pretty upbeat track.
in fact, the whole album is a little more on the upbeat side. it's different for them, but they still manage to stay true to their sound.
they've added a lot of pop elements though. i closed my eyes while listening to "no one understands" and swore i was listening to motion city soundtrack for a minute.

the next track "what and whatnot" might be some kind of "montauk" throw back.
a lot of us were confused with the slight lyric change, but obviously it must have SOMETHING to do with "montauk."
i mean going from "sweetness can you believe this?" to "sweetness did you believe in this?"
tell me "what and whatnot" isn't like montauk pt. 2 or something. haha.

anyways, the album continues with some more upbeat tracks ... it all just gets you in a good mood.
the guitar is strong, the lyrics aren't a far stray from what i'm used to. a little less violent, but it's all just really enjoyable.
in my opinion, the walking wounded, while it grew on me eventually, was a little disappointing, whereas shudder hooked me pretty fast, like with their self titled and sirens. ok, maybe not as mind blowingly amazing as sirens or bayside, but still very very good overall.

i'm happy for them. they should definitely be proud of this album.

must listen tracks: "demons" and "moceanu"
a quick note about "moceanu" ... definitely the most memorable track. but it requires a few listens to absorb everything.


a friend of mine declared that she doesn't like the album because it's "too happy."
and my response to her was "i'm sorry, what?"

go buy it this week.
you won't be disappointed.