Bayside and Thrice joined forces for a co-headline tour that proved that love for Emo is more than nostalgia, with fans packing the venue embracing the new sounds the bands have to offer.

Opening the show was Anxious who are touring to present their debut album Little Green House. While there were a couple of fans singing their songs at the front, most of the crowd were unaware of the Connecticut Pop Punk band but welcomed them with open arms and ears, with a sound that fans of The Story So Far and Knuckle Puck will love. Their energy and presence on stage were great and I’m sure they left Chicago with new fans.

Up next were Thrice, who are touring with their eleventh album Horizon/East playing songs from it like “Scavengers” and “Summer Set Fire To The Rain”. Nostalgia moved the fans with songs like “Stare At The Sun” and “The Artist In The Ambulance” taking them back to 2003, but the songs that got the biggest reaction from the crowd were some of their most recent albums with a progresive sound like “Black Honey” and “Hurricane”

The band finished their set with a cover of “Helter Skelter” by The Beatles which got a great reaction from the crowd, leading into “The Earth Will Shake”. After this tour, Thrice will play a handful of shows to celebrate the 20 anniversary of their sophomore album The Illusion of Safety.

Although it was a co-headline tour, the crowd in Chicago seems to be there mainly for Bayside, with the venue almost at capacity and fans wearing shirts and showing their tattoos with Bayside’s iconic logo. The band started their set with songs like “The Walking Wounded”, “Already Gone” and “Prayers”

Bayside knows how to please their audience and played a show full of hits from all their discography with songs like “Sick, Sick, Sick” and “I’ve Been Dead All Day” having the best reaction from the fans, who opened a mosh pit that kept growing as the show went on. Bayside also played their new single “Strangest Faces”, and although it was released a month ago the fans knew the lyrics already, proving it will be a new fans’ favorite.

The band slowed it down for the acoustic “It Don’t Exist” but amped it up again to end the show with “Blame It On Bad Luck” and their biggest song “Devotion and Desire”

BAYSIDE

THRICE

ANXIOUS

Photos + Review by Diego Vigueras | Exclusively for Music, Why Not!