Taking Back Sunday (Amityville, NY), Bayside (New York City, NY)
June 20th, 2026
Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake, MN
It amazes me how ten years into this concert photography thing, there’s new awesome experiences still to be had, and goals to make. It’s one of the things that keeps me coming back. You know, besides being able to see and capture memories and awesome shots from bands I love.
This time around, I finally got to see Bayside live. That band has been one of my biggest white whales for photographing in all of my decade shooting. For whatever reason or another, I’ve just never been able to catch a show of theirs, either because they barely come up here to play – admitted this night by lead singer Anthony Ranieri – or when they actually do, something has come up where I’m unable to make it out. Unfortunate for me in the recent past because with the release of their last album There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive I’ve become way more of a fan of theirs. It’s the album that made me really dig into their back catalogue, so I’ve been itching to see so many songs be played live.
Taking Back Sunday were the headlining band of this night. I’ve officially lost count of how many times I’ve seen them, but each time is more fun than the last. I’m pretty comfortable in saying that we’ve entered into a era of the band being pretty damn good these days. Despite stories from people describing less than stellar performances over the years, I’ve now seen three shows in a row over the couple years where the band were really clicking. Part of it is accepting and embracing Adam Lazzara’s, well, Adam-isms, which are very much still there, but somehow these days are more endearing than grating.
Two years ago saw the return of Fred Mascharino to the band, I was excited to see him then, and just as excited this time around, if not more so. What got me most excited about this tour was them playing through their album Louder Now in celebration of it’s 20th anniversary. It’s by far my favorite album of theirs, and easily top five pop-punk album of all time. I got to see it played in full once before in 2019, and while that show was certainly memorable, it was for a different kind of reason. In hindsight I don’t think I appreciated the set as much as I wish I did now, and it took another year or so for me to truly fall in love with Louder Now. Seven years later I love that I was given another chance as seeing it and boy was it good.
Shows at Mystic Lake of bands from the era of music I grew up listening to I think are just always going to feel a bit weird. There’s just always going to be a little part of me that thinks it’s wrong seeing a band in their showroom instead of a smaller dingy place, or even a bigger, not so dingy place like First Avenue. At the same time though, I actually really love seeing shows here. I love just being in the room and being able to watch the band play while not having to worry about moshers or crowdsurfers. It oddly makes the shows feel more pure.
While we had Fred back last show in place of John Nolan, John was back this time after taking some time off, and I was thrilled to see him return. I’m glad that he was able to take the time that he needed, and also glad that he was able to return along side Fred. I got to see it last year when the band played the Armory opening for Coheed and Cambria, but being able to see “Twenty-Twenty Surgery” live again and hear Adam and Fred trade vocals was a joy. It’s long been my favorite on the record. We of course got all the regular staple hits added into the setlist, scattered throughout like “Cute Without the E,” “A Decade Under the Influence. I was just as stoked to hear newer tracks like “Tidal Wave” and “The One.”
Bayside were just a treat. I was so happy the entire time watching them. I really don’t know why it took me so long to enjoy them as much as I do now. I love their combo of pop punk with crazy intricate guitar work. I’ve been trying to play their songs on guitar for awhile now and I don’t get how some of the stuff gets played. Even less so in a live setting. While I really appreciated that the only bands playing this night were Bayside and Taking Back Sunday (I’m so tired of 4+ band line ups), I selfishly wish that that would have meant for a fuller set from Bayside. 11 songs were far too few to hear from them – I could have easily cone for twice that many. Fill up that setlist with for songs from the newest album and Cult! It was a pleasant surprise to find that Zach Comtois, who I’ve seen many times before usually playing guitar in Motion City Soundtrack, fill in for Jack O’Shea. Mad props for being able to learn and play everything perfectly, at least to my ears. He had to fly down the road right away after their set get done, as he was due to play for Motion City Soundtrack as the newly built and debuting Mystic Lake Amphitheater. Again, mad props.
10/10 show, would watch again. And will continue to watch these bands forever and ever.
