Taking Back Sunday and Bayside

Prior to forming Taking Back Sunday, rhythm guitarist Eddie Reyes played in a number of seminal post-hardcore bands including Mind Over Matter and the Movielife. With the band recording their debut self-titled EP, original bass player Jesse Lacey left the group to form Brand New. Guitarist John Nolan invited his North Carolinian friend Adam Lazzara to play bass, but he ended up on lead vocals and Shaun Cooper came in on bass. After the release of their EP Taking Back Sunday began to tour relentlessly alongside the likes of Brand New and The Reunion Show, which would set the scene for their future touring endeavours.

The band’s full-length debut arrived in 2002 with the tongue-in-cheek and highly transparent name “Tell All Your Friends” released through Victory Records. It was the band’s first taste of commercial and critical success aided by the singles “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team)”, “Great Romances of the 20th Century” and “You’re So Last Summer”.

Following the departure of John Nolan and Shaun Cooper in 2003, replaced by Fred Mascherino and Matt Rubano, Taking Back Sunday opened for Blink-182 and appeared on the 2004 Vans Warped Tour. Soon after came the band’s sophomore release “Where You Want To Be” on July 27, 2004. The album debuted at No.3 on the Billboard 200 and following high-profile appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and the Spider-Man 2 soundtracks, cemented the band as a forerunner among melodic hardcore and commercial emo bands. The release was followed again by an extensive and exhaustive tour schedule including stops on the Warped Tour and several North American festivals.

Taking Back Sunday made their major label debut in 2006 with their third full-length “Louder Now” which attempted to capture some of the energy of their distinctive live show. Released through Warner Bros. the album was led by the single “What’s It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?” and resulted in appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

In 2007 Fred Mascherino left the group to focus on his solo album with The Color Fred, citing many the band’s problems regarding writing songs. Taking Back Sunday has subsequently release the albums “New Again” in 2009, “Taking Back Sunday” in 2011 and “Happiness Is” in 2014, along with an EP entitled “Faith (When I Let You Down)” in 2011. Since 2011 the original Taking Back Sunday line-up has returned, playing both on subsequent releases and at live shows.

Their name is derived from a trip to a New Found Glory concert, at which they hoped to pass a demo tape to the band; they were still struggling to think of a name when they passed by Bayside train station in their native Queens. After self-releasing a five-track demo, they were signed to Dying Wish, where they put out their debut EP, ‘Long Stories Short EP’, in 2001. Afterwards, they’d go on to sign to Victory Records in 2003 after prodigious touring, where they released their full-length debut, ‘Sirens and Condolences’.

After that record was well-received, they went on to follow it up with a self-titled album in September of 2005 - just a few weeks later, though, tragedy would strike in the early hours of Halloween. Every band’s worst nightmare came true for Bayside when their tour van overturned, and drummer John Holohan was killed. Other members of the band sustained serious injuries, and part of the healing process involved the release of their ‘Acoustic’ album, which paid tribute to Holohan. In the years since, they’ve continued to carve out a burgeoning fanbase, despite several lineup changes. Frontman Anthony Ranieri is now the only original member. Their latest album, ‘Cult’, dropped in February 2014.