The point is there are sill music festivals to be reckoned with and since a good deal of our audience tends to favor such events, there’s a good chance many of you missed some of news and reviews we posted over the last few days. So, for your catching up purposes, here’s a recap:

– The Decemberists announced their sixth studio album, The King Is Dead.

– Watch Ryan Adams and Mandy Moore play “Oh My Sweet Carolina” in L.A.

– Stream 15 previously unreleased tracks from the legendary Bruce Springsteen.

– Check out Kanye West‘s latest G.O.O.D. Friday track, “The Joy”, featuring Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, and Pete Rock. Also, peep the official tracklist for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

– Check out Eminem and Nicki Minaj‘s collaboration “Roman’s Revenge”, off the latter’s forthcoming debut.

– Watch Jeff Tweedy, Yusuf Islam, Ozzy Osbourne, and more play Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

– Death Cab For Cutie‘s Ben Gibbard sat down with Spin Magazine to discuss his band’s next album.

– Punk legends the Descendents will play their first gig in eight years at the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas this weekend.

– The Get Up Kids will release their first new album in seven years this January.

– Rivers Cuomo plans another 20 years of Weezer.

– Throbbing Gristle broke up… again.

– New concert reviews for Best Coast, Die Antwoord, and Bayside.

– Tony Hardy dusted off Genesis’ 1972 classic, Foxtrot.

– Jeff Tweddy and Mavis Staples? Kanye and Bon Iver? Jeremy Larson chooses the best odd collaborations of 2010.

Balance and Composure opened, and they probably thought they weren’t going to have to deal with drunken hecklers during their six o’clock slot. Ha! But the band forged onward and formed a solid opening set for the night. Title Fight came next, and calling them an opener is misleading. I heard several kids on their way in say that they had in fact primarily come to see Title Fight. (“I’ve seen Bayside, like, one hundred times.”) A four-piece that barely looked old enough to drive themselves to the show, Title Fight nonetheless slayed the eardrums of many and provoked a massive response from the all-ages crowd. It’s nice to see kids pound their chests with a sense of purpose. The music was hard, fast, grungy, and somehow also heartfelt, but more angry than sad—definitely worth a listen.

Senses Fail hit the deck next, after a garage sale’s worth of equipment was carted offstage, and if Title Fight warmed ‘em up, Senses Fail lit ‘em on fire. They burned through a set full of thrash-happy hardcore punk, music it feels good to get punched to. And yet the audience knew all the words, although the lyrics barely seemed to matter. Everything came out as a lot of hoarse, throaty shouting, but this was a big-hearted punk crowd, and they sang along with wild conviction even as they nearly dropped the crowd-surfers.

Every song was a crowd favorite. The band members ate it up, with Buddy Nielsen in particular bouncing off of amps and jackknifing through the air, eager to give the people what they wanted. Fast, thick guitar riffs and pounding drums were the order of the night. A particular highlight was the title track from the band’s new album, The Fire. The guitar turned more technical on this piece, but response stayed positive, with the audience figuring out the beats and improvising body flails to accompany them. In short, Senses Fail sounds like a mosh pit looks, and the audience was only too happy to provide the visuals.

Finally, Bayside took the stage after a long set change, punctuated by a crowd-surfer trying to fight four bouncers at once. (Security earned a well-deserved round of applause when they removed the kid in a headlock). The band entered to the theme music from Rocky and launched right into “Duality”.

Here, we got a taste of what makes a band worth keeping around for 10 years. Bayside’s musicality runs deep. They’ve got the standard two guitars, bassist, and drummer, but they’ve also got Anthony Raneri’s amazing voice over top of it all—high and distinctive and yet deeply emotional. Raneri creates that uniquely raw edge that is so characteristic of Bayside’s sound, and he was in fine form. This was never more evident than when the band swung into quieter territory with “Landing Feet First”. The previously wild crowd swayed and sang along at the tops of their lungs, eyes glued on Raneri’s every move. The phrase “in the palm of his hand” comes to mind.

The crowd’s hero worship of Bayside was also clear when Raneri announced the release of their next album in February; the resultant scream was so loud that he was taken aback. “Well—thank you!” he enthused just before starting a major commotion by debuting a new song. The song, “Sick Sick Sick”, had never been played before in concert. It’s a lively piece that displays Raneri’s vocal range to its full extent. The crowd seemed to enjoy it and started to pick up the chorus lyrics as well.

Bayside capped things off with a run of classic songs: “Montauk”, “Blame it on Bad Luck”, and then an amazing, ripping cover of Weezer’s “My Name is Jonas” that lit up the room. They closed with “Devotion and Desire”, accompanied by an insane mosh pit. No encore was to be had, despite begging and later booing (directed at Metro employees who began to break down the stage), due to a late show coming on after, but frankly, it was a perfect set. It went fast and smooth, included new music and classics, kept the pace while varying the tempo, and ended on a high note. If they keep picking opening bands this well and retain their raw, powerful sound, we’ll still be happily seeing Bayside live 10 years from now.

Happy anniversary, guys.

As it relates to the bands, this year’s newly unveiled initial bill is heavy in up-and-comers, though there are a few old-timers mixed in as well. For example, for every Surfer Blood, Four Tet, Salem, Small Black, Big Freedia, and School of Seven Bells, there’s also Ghostface Killah, Helmet, Senses Fail, Greg Dulli, and even Bayside. Also, Kevin Devine and Manchester Orchestra will debut their new collaboration, Bad Books. You can find a full listing of confirmed bands here.

Hundreds more acts are set to be announced in the weeks ahead. As for badges, they’re currently on sale, though the ongoing early bird discount ends tomorrow at midnight, so hurry.

Wait, you weren’t there? No trouble; luckily for you, the Internet is waiting to break your fall. Unfortunately, no one seems to have recorded the Chicago concert, but there were many intrepid fans across the country who captured a portion of it. A search of YouTube yields live videos taken from shows in Pontiac, MI; Dekalb, IL; Covington, KY; and Columbus, OH. By listening to a sampling, you can experience the show for yourself (bonuses: free tickets, you get to pick your own set list, and no tall guy standing in front of you). I’ve explored the links and picked what I think best represents each man’s set, but since the Internet is a democratic medium, feel free to explore the related links in the sidebar of each page and decide for yourself. There are about two-dozen more videos where this came from, by the way.

Anthony Raneri, “Sorrow”

Anthony Raneri of Bayside was the singer I was least excited to hear, because — and please don’t kill me — I had never heard Bayside. I wish I were kidding. But he was on first, and I would do about anything to see Chris Conley, so I stood there patiently. Imagine my surprise when Raneri opened his mouth and his gorgeous, grainy voice poured out over the silent, stunned crowd. He stood there alone in the middle of the stage, clutching his guitar tightly as if from stage fright, and played a set that would set your hair on fire. Please, if you do nothing else tonight, listen to this video of him covering Bad Religion’s ”Sorrow”.

Chris Conley, “Take Our Cars Now!”

Chris Conley played after Raneri, who was frankly a hard act to follow. Conley rose to the challenge, though (despite some gentle teasing from the other guys on how many Saves the Day songs he had prepared for the tour). He knows how to work an acoustic show, having played Subterranean previously with only his bass player for backup, and this was another excellent showing. Conley’s light, twisting, whiny-but-not tone is simply meant to be heard over nothing but the guitar. He wowed the crowd by playing some b-sides that night, including fan favorite “Take Our Cars Now!”.

Matt Pryor, “Overdue”

Matt Pryor played third. As lately he’s part of The New Amsterdams, his old-school Get Up Kids material was in high demand. Pryor balanced the set by playing old favorites mixed with newer songs, all while deftly silencing one particularly persistent heckler. He played a classic-and classy-set before turning things over to Kensrue. His acoustic rendition of The Get Up Kids’ “Overdue” brought the crowd to fits of joyous head-bobbing. (And he was kind enough to shake my hand and thank me for listening after his set).

Dustin Kensrue, “Round Here”

After several hours of killer music, the crowd was still pumped and ready for Dustin Kensrue, who was perhaps the major draw that night. His smoky voice had impressive resonance in the darkened hall, and the audience was very receptive. People cheered and some of his tour-mates watched from the back bar as Kensrue played an assortment of songs from Thrice’s several albums, as well as some well-received covers. One of his most popular selections that night was actually a cover: this rendition of Counting Crows’ “Round Here”.

Encore, “Boxcar”

As a surprise to the delighted audience, Conley, Raneri, and Pryor all joined Kensrue on stage for his last song. At the Chicago show, it was a cover of NOFX’s “Linoleum”, which brought wild cheers from the crowd. But this video of the encore from the show in Pontiac, MI is too good not to share: a high-spirited cover of Jawbreaker’s “Boxcar”.