Anthony Raneri and A Walk to Remember

Anthony Raneri (Bayside), The Note, West Chester, PA

The Note is a fairly unique venue, more of a bar that happens to have a huge back room, as if they could just close some curtains and nobody would even know there was a stage. The Note only takes cash, so if you’re showing up for tickets at the door, make sure you have the money readily available, as the closest functional ATM is somewhat elusive to those unfamiliar with the area. I’m speaking from experience, as I was pulling leaves out of my hair when I walked in to purchase my ticket.

Bayside has been a band that I can say has been ingrained in my life for most of my growing pain years, ie: after college, during my first job, first real heartbreak, loss of friends, relocation, and they are still, if not more, influential in my life now that I’m entering the I-now-have-a-401k years. I’m can safely say that they are in the running to be one of the bands I’m still listening to at 80.

Raneri spent most of the solo show opening at his merchandise table, miraculously without attendees realizing the man they came to see was the same person sitting in the dimly-lit corner. This is what I like about Bayside. The guys are down-to-earth (disregard the “Raneri for President” t-shirt) and real, which is extremely rare in my experience.

I make it sound like it didn’t take me a full 40 minutes (or more) to realize I was standing ten feet away from him. Of course, once aware, I bumbled over to the table and clumsily bought the first shirt I saw, formed what could possibly be classified as a sentence and then meandered back to my place at the bar.

Raneri was welcomed to the stage with a roar of applause and immediately launched into self-deprecating anecdotes and snippets before his first few songs. He stands possibly 5’9” and modestly referred to himself as “ten pounds of potatoes in a five pound bag.”

Raneri’s voice has become more and more impressive over the years, clearly indicated with Sirens and Condolences, juxtaposed to the powerhouse of a voice exhibited on Bayside’s most recent release, Killing Time. Try it for yourself: listen to Just Enough to Love You, immediately followed by Already Gone. You can almost feel the growing pains that he must have endured in the process.

Most of the set consisted of Bayside songs, old and new. Personally, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when the venue went completely quiet for his rendition of On Love, On Life. He officially won my boyfriend over when he announced he would be covering a song from a movie he had recently watched. Within the first few chords, it was revealed that he was playing a song from Mandy Moore’s A Walk to Remember. I have never seen more tattooed men sing along, and proudly admit, not only that they have seen it, but that they “loved Mandy in that movie…”

Truly an experience.