Most Anticipated Albums of 2018

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Bayside returned to Philly this past week for a two night stand celebrating their music both old and new. i99Radio was on the scene to capture night one of two. For the first night, Bayside brought songs from their early years, 2004 to 2008. For many of us, it takes us back instantly to the songs of our childhood, middle and high school years, and the audience spanning Gen X to Gen Alpha came ready to rock.

Long Island, NY’s The Sleeping started the night off and brought their unique blend of post-hardcore and raw energy to the stage that really got the audience going. People thrashed around and sang along, and even a toddler hopping up on his dad’s shoulders to get a better view of frontman Doug Robinson, who climbed up to the barrier, putting his microphone up to fans to sing along with them, and eventually even crowdsurfing above their heads at one point. The band has been experiencing a revival since their reunion in 2022 and their fantastic newest album, “I Feel Like I’m Becoming a Ghost”, dropping in 2023.

Bayside then took the stage, kicking off their set with the classic track, “Montauk”, from their second self-titled album. Frontman Anthony Ranieri commented how their idea for the “Errors Tour” came about when they wanted to play 44 songs in each city, instead of just 22. He talked about how the band has so many songs that fans love from all across their career, but not enough time to play them all, so they thought, “why not just play 2 nights in every city?”

The night of classic nostalgia continued on, with the band delivering high-energy versions of much loved tracks from their third album, 2007’s “The Walking Wounded”, like “Duality”, “I and I”, and the ballad “Landing Feet First” (of which started a massive audience singalong). The band also reached far back in their discography, playing tracks from their first years as a band, like “Masterpiece”, “Guardrail” and “Kellum”, off of the first album, 2004’s “Sirens and Condolences.” The audience was audibly excited by this, as these tracks are very rarely played live. The audience cheered loudly and unleashed a constant stream of crowd-surfers to the front of stage as they ripped through these classic tracks. The “newest” songs they played for night 1 were tracks from 2008’s classic album, “Shudder”, like “Boy”, “No One Understands” and “The Ghost of St. Valentine”. Again, many of these tracks haven’t been played since the Shudder Tour in 2008 so hearing these songs was certainly a treat for the audience.

Bayside’s show at Brooklyn Bowl was a testament to how the songs we grew up with are forever engrained in our DNA, the music grows with us and becomes a part of us as we grow older, but we never forget the songs that influenced us almost two decades ago. The 1,000 people in the audience who turned up to sing every word of these songs that are almost 20 years old now proves this to be true and Bayside to be a band close to so many people’s hearts.

Photos by Dave Avidan

Each new year brings new hope and an infinite possibility of new music.  We can never have enough new music.  Our appetites must be fed by new lyrical entrees. Keep serving them up because we never seem to get full.  2018 is shaping up to be a smorgasbord, but I have narrowed the menu down to 5 items you will not want to miss.

 

Lo Moon – It’s been almost a year and a half since “Loveless” and we have FINALLY been graced with a release date of February 23rd.  Recently, the band has been teasing us with test pressings of their upcoming album promised this year.  I had a chance to hear the album in its entirety live, and it is well worth the wait.  Not to put too much pressure on you Lo Moon, but I expect this to be our generation’s Avalon.  Just as long as you don’t include any of the edits.

 

Jack White – Jack didn’t just release one song with the surprise announcement of a new album, he released two songs.  The Twitterverse went bonkers over the return of this rock and blues god.  The only thing disappointing about a new album from Jack is that the upcoming tour will not include a stop in Philadelphia, because he was not happy with our modest reaction to his live show 15 years ago.  I hope he changes his mind sometime in the near future.

 

The Struts – “One Night Only” is starting to feel like “One Song Only”.  The Struts will be taking the stage this January in Philly for the Radio 104.5 Winter Jawn show.  So many have mentioned that they can’t wait to hear new music.  I can’t wait to see what Luke is wearing.  When you have a front man like Luke Spiller, part of the experience is seeing the music come alive.

 

Weezer – I am starting to feel spoiled.  We just were given the gift of Pacific Daydream and Weezer is already promising us the Black Album by May.  If you are worried they are going to slow down after this, don’t be.  Rivers has said he would like to up his pace a little bit.  Perhaps we will hear some of this magic on their upcoming summer tour with The Pixies.

 

Twenty One Pilots – What do we know so far?  If you follow social media, you know that they are in the studio, the new album will be more downbeat, the crossed out O in their logo has changed to a crossed out E, and Rivers Cuomo claims to have Tyler Joseph’s iPhone password.  That’s about it, but that is enough to send the Clique into a frenzy.  Their Twitter page has been leaving us cryptic clues since the end of their last tour.  It’s time to get to work and figure this one out!

 

Honorable Mention – Vance Joy – When new album artwork is enough to send a fan base into a frenzy, it is about time to release some new music.  Rightly so, considering “Lay it on Me” was released 6 months ago.  I can hear women collectively swooning at this exact moment.  New album will be out February 23rd.

 

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