UTG PHOTOS: Bayside & I Am The Avalanche At Music Hall of Williamsburg (10/4/14)

October 11th, 2014

Kellie Gannon

Under The Gun sent photographer, Kellie Gannon, to Music Hall of Williamsburg in New York City to photograph Bayside on October 4, 2014.

Over the years, I have seen Bayside play on a vast array of stages, some with only a handful in the crowd and some with enormous festival crowds. Seeing Bayside play Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn was a very special show. MHoW isn’t the largest venue in the city, but it was perfect for Bayside’s Brooklyn hometown show and the venue was sold out and packed to the max.

Supporting acts on this tour included Seaway, a fun pop punk band from Ontario, and Brooklyn’s own hometown heroes, I Am The Avalanche. I Am The Avalanche, who coincidentally celebrate their ten-year anniversary as a band this month, took the stage with a very energetic Vinnie Caruana on the mic. The energy in the room was top notch and there was so much hometown pride. IATA played a lengthy set including a variety of songs from their past ten years. Songs from their 2011 album release Avalanche United were intermingled with songs from 2014’s Wolverines. Fans cherished IATA but even more so during their classics, including “New Disaster” and “I Took A Beating” from their 2005 self-titled debut album. There was crowd surfing, stage diving, circle and mosh pits, and I would expect nothing less during such an incredible set.

Before Bayside came out, the theme from Rocky blasted through the venue and the crowd went wild with anticipation. Bayside took the stage around 10:15pm and cranked out tunes from their most recent release, Cult. Despite the incredibly loud sound system, the fans were just as loud singing the words right back to lead vocalist, Anthony Raneri, who spent most of the set grinning from ear to ear. Bayside played an almost 90-minute set, including songs spanning their entire discography, and received the loudest crowd response during nostalgic songs from 2005’s self-titled release, Bayside. The band took the stage for one encore song, unanimous crowd favorite, “Devotion and Desire.”

The entire show was an energetic rollercoaster of crowd acrobatics, insurmountable energy from the bands, and so much love and gratitude for these NY natives. It was everything a hometown show should be from bands that have been tearing up stages with killer punk tunes for a decade and counting. Check out all the photos from this fun show below!

I AM THE AVALANCHE