Bayside celebrates its essence of being a band with a scorching set that was recorded live in New York City on August 17, 2008. Charismatic frontman Anthony Raneri woos what sounds like a pumped-up crowd with tuneful singing and charming commentary between songs. At one point, he comments that they are filming their live CD, then corrects himself to say they are taping their live CD. Cocky or ego-driven bands would have edited that mistake out and, perhaps, overdubbed the flub with what he wanted to say in the first place. Not Raneri, not the rest of the members of the band, and certainly not the fans of this band that were in attendance would have accepted that.
After all, Raneri’s songs are mainly aching moments set to music. That’s their strength. Raneri sings about messed up relationships. He comments in “They’re Not Horses, They’re Unicorns” that “She was a termite, eating away at my roots… / I was filling a void with you.” He sings about his own humanity in the band’s best song, “Blame It on Bad Luck,” when he highlights his own failings and unfortunate luck.
What makes this a great live release is that there seems to be just the right amount of balance between the crowd singing along — which is expected with lyrics this personal — and Raneri’s voice. When the crowd hits every word in “Blame It On Bad Luck” and in “They Looked Like Strong Hands,” it sounds like a duet. Raneri takes some liberty with the phrasing in order to make sure the crowd is not overpowered by his microphone. It’s a delicate touch that recurs throughout this release. Another nice touch is when Raneri talks about the people he met before they started playing and mentions the different cities that their fans came from to listen to them on this night.
Guitarist Jack O’Shea, bassist Nick Ghanbarian and drummer Chris Guglielmo provide plenty of spark on this release. Bayside sounds tight as they go through their material, especially the quick, minute-long basher “Hello Shitty.”
Their acoustic song “Don’t Call Me Peanut” slows the set down and probably allows Guglielmo a brief pause before the band kicks their way through “I And I,” a song Raneri describes as being about “friendship and getting through shit you didn’t think you could get through.” When Raneri announces “They Looked Like Strong Hands,” he is met with cheers from the crowd.
Bayside remains one of the best rock bands around, and their energy, particularly evident on this release, is one reason why I keep listening to them.
