Bayside’s self-titled LP turns 20: A look back with Anthony Raneri

2025 marks 25 years of Bayside and it also marks 20 years of their self-titled sophomore album, which vocalist/guitarist Anthony Raneri joined us on the BrooklynVegan podcast to discuss.

Released on August 23, 2005, Bayside came at a pivotal moment for both the band and the 2000s emo boom that they were part of. At that point, all eyes were on the Long Island emo/post-hardcore scene that Bayside were part of, and the genre as a whole had just become bigger than ever, thanks to the combined successes of Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance, both of whom Bayside had very recently shared the stage with, prior to those bands’ meteoric rises.

A year earlier, Bayside released their debut album Sirens and Condolences on Victory Records, a label that had been at the center of the emo boom since its successes with Bayside’s Long Island neighbors Taking Back Sunday and NJ’s Thursday, and they spent pretty much the entirety of 2004 on the road, hopping from one tour to the next. Bayside’s momentum was undeniable but the band was wearing itself thin and still not making a ton of money, so after the tour with Fall Out Boy wrapped up at the end of July 2004, bassist/lyricist Andrew Elderbaum and drummer Jim Mitchell left the band. In order to keep it going, Anthony started writing lyrics of his own, and he guitarist Jack O’Shea recruited bassist Nick Ghanbarian (formerly of the massively-influential Long Island melodic hardcore band Silent Majority) and drummer John “Beatz” Holohan. Seven months later, they were in the studio recording their self-titled album.

More so than their debut album, Bayside set the tone for the rest of the band’s career and it drastically rose the band’s profile, thanks to its breakthrough single “Devotion and Desire” and other fan faves like “Montauk” and “Blame It on Bad Luck.” Produced by Shep Goodman (who’d written songs for Mandy Moore and Aaron Carter), it found the band pulling from pop songwriting, metal riffs, and the Long Island emo/punk scene that birthed them, and coming out with a record that stood out from pretty much all of their peers.

On the new episode of the BrooklynVegan podcast, we talk with Anthony about all the factors that led to this album turning out the way it did, and the way it changed the band’s career forever. He also reckons with some of the album’s more violent, misogynistic lyrics–something Bayside made a conscious effort to stay away from when writing their next album, The Walking Wounded–and he reflects on the tragic van crash that took place just two months after Bayside‘s release, leaving John “Beatz” Holohan dead at 31 and Nick Ghanbarian severely injured.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Bayside will also celebrate their 25th anniversary on the ’25 Years Of Bayside: The Errors Tour,’ which includes two-night stands in each city that will find them playing songs from 2004’s Sirens and Condolences through 2008’s Shudder on night one and songs from 2011’s Killing Time through 2024’s There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive on night two. They have three different openers from three different generations lined up, varying by date, including their forebears the Smoking Popes, their longtime friends/peers The Sleeping, and newer emo/punk torch-carriers Sincere Engineer.

The tour begins on March 29 in Buffalo, and it wraps up with hometown-area shows at NYC’s Irving Plaza on September 19 & 20, Asbury Park’s Stone Pony on September 24 & 25, and finally a Long Island one-night stand on September 26 at The Paramount. All dates are listed below.

Bayside — 2025 Tour Dates
3/29 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom **
3/30 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom **
4/1 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House **
4/2– Toronto, ON @ The Opera House **
4/4 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues **
4/5 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues **
4/6 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues **
4/7 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues **
4/9 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre **
4/10 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre **

6/6 – Denver, CO @ Summit Theater %
6/7 – Denver, CO @ Summit Theater %
6/8 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot %
6/9 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot %
6/11 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox %
6/12 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox %
6/13 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall %
6/14 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall %
6/16 – San Francisco, CA @ August Hall %
6/17 – San Francisco, CA @ August Hall %
6/19 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues %
6/20 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues %
6/21 – Las Vegas, NV @ Fremont Country Club %
6/22 – Las Vegas, NV @ Fremont Country Club %
6/24 – Mesa, AZ @ The Nile %
6/25 – Mesa, AZ @ The Nile %
6/27 -Austin, TX @ Emo’s %
6/28 -Austin, TX @ Emo’s %

9/6 – Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues #
9/7 – Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues #
9/8 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade (Hell) #
9/9 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade (Hell) #
9/11 – Nashville, TN @ Main Stage at Eastside Bowl #
9/12 – Nashville, TN @ Main Stage at Eastside Bowl #
9/13 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground #
9/14 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground #
9/16 – Philadelphia, PA @ Brooklyn Bowl #
9/17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Brooklyn Bowl #
9/19 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza #
9/20 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza #
9/21 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club #
9/22 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club #
9/24 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony #
9/25 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony #
9/26 – Huntington, NY @ The Paramount #

** – with Sincere Engineer
% – with Smoking Popes
# – with The Sleeping

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