The sweat was dripping from the brows of die-hard Bayside fans last night after the band’s 18-song set at Syracuse’s intimate rock club, The Lost Horizon.

Despite the small venue, the hardcore fans released their high energy by moshing and crowd surfing throughout the entire show.  Bayside conquered The Lost Horizon with a discography-spanning set as they gear up for their massive United States Tour with Saves the Day.

The night began when Syracuse’s own Of Fortune and Fame warmed up the crowd with simple distorted power chords and rolling drumbeats. The band’s short six-song set featured songs from their new extended play (EP), free on their website.

The crowd, made of mostly high school and tattooed adolescents sporting black T-shirts, began to gather in front of the stage as State Champs began a heavily screamo-influenced set. State Champs got the crowd swaying and bouncing around in preparation for Boston’s indie punk rockers, Transit.

The typical concert aromas of sweat and beer filled the air as Transit’s first cymbal crash took place. Playing songs off their upcoming album, ‘Listen and Forgive,’ the rockers worked the audience as they sported songs that showed their musical variety of punk, pop, indie and screamo genres. The casually dressed group received a great response from the crowd as they sang the lyrics back to singer Joe Boynton throughout their 35-minute set.

After a short break, the lights finally dimmed and the people lingering in the back of the venue rushed into the thick of the crowd as singer and guitarist Anthony Raneri walked onto the slightly elevated stage. As the first notes of new single ‘Already Gone’ rang out, the mob of black exploded into a unison jump that shook the tiny venue. The temperature of The Lost Horizon rose as the band started ‘They’re Not Horses, They’re Unicorns.’ Fans close to the stage suffocated Raneri with the endless barrage of crowd surfing. They screamed lyrics of heartbreak and angst.

Blue and purple flood lights backlit the foursome as they began playing songs from their newest album, ‘Killing Time,’ including ‘The Wrong Way’ and ‘The New Flesh.’ While well received, the crowd was itching for a song from debut album ‘Sirens and Condolences.’ Bayside recognized this, launching into ‘Just Enough to Love You.’ It threw the mob into a frenzy of moshing, jumping and screaming, with dozens of fans jumping off the stage. Bayside fed off this energy and kept the crowd in a riot by playing ‘The Walking Wounded,’ ‘Carry On’ and ‘I And I’ off the 2007 album ‘The Walking Wounded.‘

The venue’s acoustics were excellent, typical of smaller rock club. All of Raneri’s lyrics were audible as well as all the guitar solos, rolling bass riffs and pounding snare beats provided by the rest of the band.

After a rousing set closer of ‘Sick, Sick, Sick,’ the band departed the stage only to return moments later. The band thanked the Syracuse fans for their support and energy before launching into ‘Devotion and Desire.’ Raneri walked away from the microphone and allowed the fans to sing the whole thing as they mobbed the stage. A full back flip by an audience member into the crowd finished off the show.

There was not a dry person in the club. A lone shoe was left behind as the crowd dispersed. Even in small clubs in Syracuse, fans of Bayside know how to pack the house while the band brings it down. Some even have the scars to attest to it.

drbleckn@syr.edu

Published on September 20, 2011 at 12:00 pm