A View From The Back Of The Room: Bayside (Alex Swift)

Bayside, Thekla, Bristol – 14.02.2025

Bayside has long straddled the divide between punk and metal. Their appeal has always been their ability to combine brilliant song crafting with sharp technical ability, with Jack O’Shea’s masterful lead guitar work, distinguishing them within the post-hardcore movement. Now twenty-five years into their career, they are one of the few acts from the first wave of ‘emo’ who are still together and still releasing consistently excellent albums. 

Being a show as part of the cleverly titled “Errors Tour”, half of the set is dedicated to songs from the latter half of the band’s discography, with the second half seeing them reminisce with some choice cuts from their early albums. Few bands can do that without utterly alienating one half of their audience or another. Let that serve as proof of both the dedication of their fanbase and the strength of their discography.

First up though is Cold Years. Their style of richly melodic alternative rock acts as a perfect tone setter for the night, as they compel the crowd to sing along and perform with a vitality that demonstrates their commitment to their craft. The band has been making inroads into the scene, providing support slots for Billy Talent and now Bayside. That makes perfect sense as well, as their sound leans into 2000’s nostalgia, whilst being unique and feeling like a fresh take on pop-punk principles.

“We said we wouldn’t come back unless we got to play on a boat” Anthony Raneri quips at one point, in acknowledgment of the uniqueness of the Thekla – a former cargo ship converted into a showboat and then a live music venue, permanently docked at Bristol Harbour. 

Indeed, the intimate nature of the space makes for a thriving atmosphere, as the act immediately provokes a vivacious response from the crowd, as we scream every word back at the performers. There are knowing smiles amongst some members of the audience as a few of us endeavour to sing the harmonies, the visceral line of “we’ll be walking hand in hand in hell!” that accompanies the bridge on Already Gone, calling for crowd participation in and of itself.

With a flair for making their songs take an emotional toll, there’s a feeling of catharsis present from start to finish. Moments like I’ve Been Dead All Day and Duality (which, thankfully, is not a Slipknot cover), speak to a sensation of struggling to express yourself, of feeling the need to cry out and yet having to mask your feelings of disillusionment behind a veneer of respectability. 

Cheers are heard around inside the ship when Raneri asks who is seeing Bayside for the first time tonight. For both long-term fans and those, like me, who have been a fan since the Cult-era in 2015 exposed them to a new audience, there’s a sense of reassurance in realizing the empathy you feel with these lyrics, is shared across generations, regardless of favourite album or era.

One of the most moving moments throughout the show is the mournful acoustic interlude of Don’t Call Me Peanut. A staple of this band’s live performances, this also provokes the loudest participation from the crowd of the night. “I’ve heard that song sung in a lot of accents, but that was something special” our frontman quips afterward. 

Having travelled through the Severn Tunnel, I was happy to lend my Welsh accent (that is incredibly noticeable to Bristolians), to the chorus of voices accompanying the strained, yearning composition! In stark contrast, there’s an alteration to the setlist with Valentine's Day promoting them to break out one of the only optimistic songs in their career – the romantic Falling Feet First. Being a rarity of live performances, and one of this writer’s personal favourite Bayside songs, this was a welcome addition to a set spanning the New York outfit’s entire catalogue.

Finishing on Devotion And Desire, the audience response is visceral, the sheer anger of the song provoking a final moment of intense emotional exuberance, in time to the song that proved upon its release in the early 2000s that these musicians were more than just a flash and pan when it comes to emo. There’s no encore – there perhaps doesn’t need to be, considering the vivacity and passion poured into the set. 

Having been a fan of this band for about ten years, I emerge into the cold Bristol night from the venue, incredibly enthused, still processing an experience that I’d been anticipating for a decade! Here’s to the next 25 years of Bayside! 9/10