Picture Book & Live Review: Taking Back Sunday, Bayside & Transit @ Center Stage, November 9th!

Photos & Review By Codi Glancy

The past few times I’ve been to Center Stage, it’s been for sold out shows. It goes without saying that almost all sold out shows have an untouchable energy, but as I walked up to for Taking Back Sunday and Bayside, I could tell this crowd was going to be a little bit different. As hundreds of fans filed into the instantly packed venue, the room became alive!

The first band, Transit, took the stage at around 8:30. I hate saying this, but I really don’t know anything about their music. With that being said, these guys were amazing! Their music was filled with catchy riffs, brilliant melodies and an untouchable stage presence. Their set was the perfect little taste of their sound, and I’ll checking them out some more!

Quickly after came Bayside! I’ve been a long time fan of the New York based rockers and I’ve seen them more than a handle full of times. Every time I see Bayside, it seems like it was better than the last time. As they have progressed more into their careers, watching them has become a movingly sentimental experience for me (sounds lame and fan-girly, I know). Minus the two times I’ve seen them a Warped Tour, this was the biggest stage I’ve watched them play on. The crowd was hectic as they began their set with an eye-opening and energetic “Sick, Sick, Sick.” From the pit, I could see fans shouting along with their fists in the air as they jumped up and down with every beat. “Montauk” followed after and the rest of their set was filled with favorites like “Duality,” “Masterpiece,” “Blame it on Bad Luck,” and they closed with “Devotion & Desire.”

Closing out the night was Taking Back Sunday. TBS is currently celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their first full-length release, “Tell All Your Friends,” and with all of the original members being back, the band decided to play all of the album in it’s entirety. As their set began, the stage went black and an intro from “Mr. Rogers” began playing. They then started out with “What’s it Feel Like to Be a Ghost” and played through favorites from their previous albums including “Liar,” “MakeDamnSure,” and “One-Eighty By Summer.”

As those songs ended “Tell All Your Friends” began. The crowd went insane as the stage curtained dropped and the TAYF artwork was revealed behind the band. Lead singer, Adam Lazzara, is definitely a showman to the extreme. A few songs into TAYF, Lazzara made his way into the sold out crowd and sang song after song with fans. At one point the microphone was in my face and I honestly didn’t know what to do. The show ended with two of the record’s bonus tracks “Your Own Disaster” and “The Ballad of Sal Villanueva.”

Bayside’s Set List: