Photos and words by Samantha Skapin

I was fortunate enough to check out Say Anything & Bayside’s co-headliner tour at the House of Blues in Cleveland. They had some great support from the band Reggie and The Full Effect.

Reggie and The Full Effect opened up the show to a packed crowd. I personally had not listened to these guys before, but learned that frontman James Dewees actually played keys for a little band called My Chemical Romance. They opened the show with their song, “Happy V-Day”, after Dewee had a little talk with the crowd. These guys sounded great and seemed as though they were completely relaxed throughout the whole set. They talked to the crowd in between songs about various things such as Dewee’s Matrix tattoo and his days with My Chemical Romance. The end of the set was quite…interesting with James Dewee stripping down to a very tiny outfit and playing their song “Love Reality” solo, while jumping into the crowd. If you get a chance to check out this tour, make sure to get their early to check these guys out.

Next up was Bayside, who had a very intimate approach to the beginning of their set. Vocalist Anthony Raneri came out and stood on the barricade to perform one of their most popular songs, “They Looked Like Strong Hands” off of Bayside. The crowd of course sang the lyrics to the popular song along with Raneri, and it was incredible to watch from the barricade. As soon as the song ended, Raneri jumped onto the stage along with the rest of the band to go straight into “Already Gone” off of Killing Time. They sounded greater than ever live, playing songs off of their whole discography such as “Montauk”, “Big Cheese”, and “Devotion and Desire” These guys brought so much energy to The House of Blues and probably could have been gauged by the many crowd surfers throughout the whole set. Bayside is and always will be one of the best bands you can check out live, so be sure to check them out on this run as well as their newest album Vacancy.

Say Anything closed out the show at the House of Blues with an incredible set. I’ve these guys a couple of times now, each time being better than the last, so I was incredibly excited to see them this run. The band came out to the entire venue screaming as vocalist Max Bemis rocked the mic stand back and forth before the band went into “Do Better” off of their self titled album from 2009. The crowd chanted the words back to the band while Bemis and Parker Case exploded into “Shiska (Girlfriend)“. Say Anything always puts 1000% into their shows, as they played songs new and old including “Night Song”, “Spidersong“, and “The Presidential Suite”. They closed out their set with their infamous song, “Every Man Has A Molly” from their 2004 album ….Is a Real Boy and the crowd, of course were quick to sing the lyrics “You goddamn kids had best be gracious with the merch money you spend” back to the band to end the night. Definitely check out this show if it comes to your town, because the entire monster of a bill was incredible to watch live.