Bayside | Milwaukee, WI

On a Tuesday night in February, Bayside brought a little slice of the New York music scene to Milwaukee with the Just Like Home Tour. The band, hailing from Queens, brought along Koyo from Long Island and I Am the Avalanche from Brooklyn to round out the bill for a New York punk-rock experience. 

Koyo kicked things off with a quick seven songs to a crowd that was just warming up. The set included songs off of their EPs Drives Out East (2021), a few from Painting Words Into Lines (2020), and some newer singles released in 2022. 

As the crowd filled in, I Am The Avalanche took the stage and brought the energy to the next level. At one point, the group commented that they were just having fun on stage rocking with their best friends, and that sentiment was truly felt. The band had great chemistry, stage presence, and had the crowd moshing in no time. 

As Bayside hit the stage, an audio montage played of dedicated fans proclaiming how they discovered the band, how many shows they’ve been to and how much the band means to them. While the band may mean a lot to the audience, the audience also meant a lot to the band. Midway through the set that covered seven full length albums, EPs and current singles, lead singer Anthony Raneri talked about how cool it is to have fans both singing songs the band released “when they were kids” and “singing the new stuff too.” Highlights of the show started early on with “Sick Sick Sick” seeing the crowd chant along. From that point forward, the audience was electric and never stood still. There was an abundance of head banging, dancing, air drumming, air guitaring, rock signs, and even crowd surfing - even during the latter half of the show when the set slowed with songs like “Landing Feet First” or “It Don’t Exist”. The icing on the cake was hearing the crowd sing the whole second verse of “Don’t Call Me Peanut”. Overall, Bayside put on a dynamic show that entertained old and new fans alike.