Walking to the Newport Music Hall on the annoyingly humid night of June 9th, I was pleasantly surprised to see quite the line waiting for the nostalgic fun ahead. I don’t know for sure, but I am willing to bet the show ended up being sold out, or at least quite close.
Kicking off the night was Bayside. I don’t think I have ever experienced a whole audience singing along so loudly to literally every single song until this performance. Absolutely mesmerizing. I vaguely recall sometime in the early aughts there being a silly joke of Bayside being a cult and now I see why. The band enthusiastically played tunes spanning their discography, moving about the stage and frequently engaging with the fans. Singer Anthony even shared a nice story of this connection he felt with Columbus, reminiscing about former venues they played while dreaming of playing at Newport. From start to finish, their set can be best summed up as a “delightful experience.” I highly recommend checking them out live, and I cannot wait until they come back to Columbus.
Now the main event, Taking Back Sunday. This is the band that comes to my mind whenever emo music is discussed. One of the main bands in the soundtrack of my high school memories. I first saw them at Warped Tour in 2004, and the excitement of still seeing them perform over 20 years later hasn’t changed. I was happy to see guitarist John Nolan on the stage this time, as he was absent while the band toured with Coheed and Cambria last year. Singer Adam was his typical bouncy self, swinging the microphone along the way. As with Bayside, the entire crowd was singing along, especially to their classics. Guitarist Fred Mascherino would frequent the edge of the stage, smiling from ear to ear the whole time. TBS is such a fun band to see live, and I can’t wait until they return to Columbus. In the meantime, there are still a few dates left on this tour, so definitely check it out.
