"We've been working on some new stuff for the upcoming record," Gigler said. "Living together makes the [the songwriting process] easier because instead of Tony having to call me and get together, I can just wake up and hear him playing something or vice versa."
Gigler said the band has had a rigorous schedule as of late, playing six shows a week, and that he has learned from being on the road over the years to be as fan-friendly as possible at the shows, and be social with the opening bands from day to day.
"We have done a lot of those opening slots over the years, and we have toured with really cool bands who would invite us on their bus to drink and hang out," Gigler said. "So we think it's important to pass that on as the headlining band."
Bayside singer/guitarist Anthony Ranieri said his band has been touring non-stop with few breaks for four years, playing with bands such as Fall Out Boy, The Juliana Theory and current tour-mates Punchline and Hawthorne Heights. He added that he is extremely excited about the current tour with Mest, which the band has been a part of for a little more than a month.
"The Mest guys have been totally awesome, and really treated us well," Ranieri said. "All of the bands on this tour are great live bands."
Ranieri said that, despite the overwhelming amount of people who think Bayside took their name from the high school that Zack Morris attended on the popular early 90s show, Saved By The Bell, the band name actually comes from a sign that Ranieri saw on the way to Bayside's first show.
Ranieri said that Mest is an incredible band that brings a great deal of energy to its live show, and fans who come out to the show should keep an open mind, as the lineup is a very diverse one, with each band having a different strength to its performance.
"Punchline's stuff is extremely catchy, and they really get the kids into it with their energy," Ranieri said. "We play on pure emotion, we don't do any flashy back-flips or anything like that, and then Hawthorne Heights plays some heavier, stuff that really has the kids flipping out."
Hawthorne Heights drummer Eron Bucciarelli said that his band, which has been on the road since the beginning of March, has a wide range influences ranging from pop to hard-core, and that although his band's sound is heavier than the other bands on the tour, they don't exactly stick out like a sore thumb either.
"All of the bands on this tour pretty much have the same audience, so it makes sense that we are out together," Bucciarelli said. "Its just really cool to be able to play our music on tour, and have a label [Victory Records] that really supports us."
Steve Soboslai, singer/guitarist for Punchline said that he's happy to be playing Crowbar, but that playing at Penn State has always been a good time for the band.
"We played the Pollock Commons two or three times in the past few years, plus my brother and sister went to Penn State," Soboslai said.
"We know tons of people there. Being from the Pittsburgh area, half of everyone we know went to Penn State after high school."
Soboslai said that Punchline hasn't always been able to enjoy the packed clubs it's been playing for lately. He said the band's worst show ever took place in Arkansas, where the band played at a Gazebo to an audience made up of: the girl who set up the show, her sister, a five-year old, a homeless man and some kid who drove an hour to see them.
"I always think of being in a touring band as us being Florida," Soboslai said. "It's great, but every now and again there is a hurricane. You have to take the bad with the good, you can't really complain. We recently wrecked our van, and personally, I was like 'this sucks' but no one got hurt and we weren't going to miss any shows, so it turned out all right."
Gigler, Ranieri, Bucciarelli and Soboslai all agree that everyone who comes out to the show will be in for a night of great, energetic and diverse performances.
"This is a very well put together, complete show," Soboslai said.
"If you don't go to this show you are an idiot."
