The DVD shows the last concert of the tour at the House of Blues in Chicago and two extra’s. The show is recorded like an acoustic show should be recorded: no flashy light shows, nervous direction or camera swings. It calmly documents the performance of singer Anthony and guitarist Jack. The extra’s are some footage of the recordings of the acoustic CD, which I will come to later, and a tribute to John Holohan.

 

As mentioned before, besides the DVD this effort contains a CD with seven acoustic studio-recorded songs, two full-band bonus tracks and one acoustic live song. The acoustic songs all come with a crystal-clear production and obviously display the heart sore the band goes through. It opens with ‘Winter’, a tribute to the deceased drummer. It contains ‘Megan’, a Smoking Popes cover with guest vocals of Josh Caterer. The rest are all previously put out songs, but now in acoustic versions. I pay my respect to Bayside for putting out this record, but purely musically speaking, I think this band pulls off a better performance ‘plugged’. The bonus tracks are the Elliott Smith cover ‘Baby Britain’, ‘Paternal Reversal’ (a never before released B-side) and the live track ‘Don’t Call Me Peanut’ from the show in Chicago.

 

I would recommend this CD/DVD to the fans of Bayside. It gives a good impression of a tragic episode in the band’s career. And even though there are some strong and intense parts about the performances, the songs lose much of their power. If you’re not familiar with Bayside I’d suggest you buy an album first.