Bayside is like a cult, and Tuesday night Syracuse experienced its initiation.
Playing a small headlining tour before meeting up to support scene stars Saves the Day and I Am the Avalanche, the Long Island hardcore veterans stopped at The Lost Horizon to showcase why they have been a staple in punk rock for over a decade.
Bayside took the stage with "Already Gone," unleashing its energy, aggression, and passion on the small, intimate setting. With its typical angst laden lyrics, lead singer Anthony Raneri pulled out new hits and old classics to fulfill the desires of each fan.
Playing many songs off of its new album, Killing Time, including "Sick Sick Sick," and "The Wrong Way," the four-man band sparked with energy and proved that after many years it's still passionate about performing and are evolving musically with each album it produces.
"We started with the picture first, the album cover," said Bayside bassist Nick Ghanbarian of creating the band's newest album. "We just found [the picture] online…we love that concept: an astronaut could leave this world – he has the ultimate job of something almost nobody else could do – but him doing mundane everyday things."
Although Bayside's sound may change over time, the group is actively working to make what you hear on the album as close to the sound you get live.
"Sometimes we've written and recorded songs that sound differently from our album and live," Ghanbarian said. "Live always becomes more energetic and more aggressive, and we wrote songs specifically on this album that would be the same the whole way. When people come and hear us play those new songs tonight they should sound exactly the way they do on the album."
Yet Bayside still stayed true to its roots, playing fan favorites such as "Blame It On Bad Luck" and "Montauk," as well as songs of its album Sirens and Condolences, including "Poison in my Veins," "Just Enough to Love You," and "Masterpiece." Nostalgia-induced moshing and general insanity ruled the pit as fans charged the stage and launched themselves from the balcony onto the anxiously waiting hands of the crowd below.
Warming up the crowd for Bayside were Transit, a pop-punk band from Boston, Syracuse's Of Fortune and Fame, and Albany's State Champs.
"We've always wanted to take younger up-and-coming bands on tour," Ghanbarian said. "I want to be able to help bands like that reach that point because if it's not financially viable for them to be a band for the next five years, then who knows how they're ever going to reach their potential?"
Raneri slowed things down for the crowed as he turned his powerful and aggressive instrumentals into the acoustic, melodic ballad "On Love, On Life," leaving the crowd swaying and holding up lighters in true clichéd fashion.
After its set, the band returned to the stage to play its encore: "Devotion and Desire." The song highlighted lead guitarist Jack O'Shea's masterful riffs and drummer Chris Guglielmo's rhythm and pulse, and gave the crowd one last chance to enjoy Bayside.
"This is a part of who we are," Ghanbarian said. "No matter what's going on, it doesn't feel right when we're not here, playing a show,"
It's lucky for fans that Bayside feels so passionate about performing. Shows like Tuesday's prove why the Queens quartet deserves its spot as one of the better punk-rock bands of this generation.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Mhdariby / Wikimedia Commons
