Rocktober 2011: Bayside/Saves the Day

Solid lineup! What can possibly go wrong?

Felipe M

Pathological Hate continues to review the music shows they have attended in the last year-and-a-half or so.

BAYSIDE/SAVES THE DAY: OCTOBER 13, 2011, HOUSE OF BLUES, CHICAGO, IL

Bayside and Saves the Day are one of the coolest, more respected punk (pop-punk?) bands out there.  Admittedly, I have not listened to a new Bayside album since The Walking Wounded.  This could be attributed to perhaps a change in listening preferences. Or it could be that I have been left disappointed with their live shows before as Anthony Raneri has a bad habit of delaying and elongating lyrics on stage, making it difficult to sing along to ("If the sun... don't....shine tomo...rrow...we'll...surviv.....veeeeee.")  Also, because of this, songs that normally have a steady beat and tempo, get painstakingly and inexplicably slowed down.  

Most frustrating is that outside of the song "Masterpiece," they really don't play songs from the superb Sirens and Condolences album. Are the complaints petty?  Perhaps, but is it too much to listen to "Phone Calls from Poland," "Poison in My Veins," and/or "A Synonym for Acquiesce" in their entirety? Nevertheless, Bayside has a reputation for having some of the most loyal fans in the scene and their shows at the House of Blues have always been kind of crazy with the whole floor shaking to near earthquake levels.

However, as much as I enjoyed listening to Bayside during my college years, this night was supposed to be about Saves the Day who I finally gave another chance in 2011 when my friend, Chirs Orsini (R.I.P.) urged and convinced me to give them another listen and let me borrow some of their albums.  I was hooked and unhesitantly when out and bought Daybreak. When I found out about this show, I couldn't wait to see Bayside, but especially Saves the Day to play some of their newer songs from the newer album. 

What I didn't count on was that this was a co-headline tour and the show would start a bit early to accommodate both bands to play for an hour.

So I was late and missed more than half of STD's set, getting to the show as they were finishing up "My Sweet Fracture." One of the highlights was seeing them perform "Daybreak" in its entirety, so that was a treat in itself.  And of course, they finished with "At Your Funeral." Chris Conley's voice, is worth mentioning, sounds just like the version you would hear on the record. It is simply amazing how his voice has "Benjamin Buttoned." It's not as loud and authoritative as the early albums, but it's more precise and versatile and it's quite astonishing to listen to it live. 

For some reason, I just couldn't make it out of work in time as I not only was looking forward to seeing both bands, but bands Transit and I Am the Avalanche were also touring as well.  My tardiness sealed my fate in watching these two bands perform, however, I did see Vinnie Caruana provide guest vocals for the Bayside song "The Walking Wounded."  He looked great.  

Bayside came on to finish off the show and were up to their tricks of slowing down songs and Anthony messing around with the lyrics and playing "Masterpiece" once again.  It was still an enjoyable show, just nothing out of the ordinary.  Bayside also released another album in 2011 called Killing Time. One day, I might listen to it, but this show definitely did not make me all too enthusiastic about it. 

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