There’s no build up with Bayside. From the opening bars of Pigsty from latest album Cult, they’re off and the pace is relentless. The Deaf Institute’s a distinctive venue and the room almost feels alive with the floorboards flexing, bending and bouncing under foot; the room literally throbbing to the music.

 

Formed in 2000, Bayside have spent the last 15 years continuously recording (an impressive six studio albums) and touring, building a strong and loyal following. They were on these shores last year supporting The Gaslight Anthem but this is their first full UK headline tour.

 

Whilst they may have seen their contemporaries go on to more mainstream success in that time, their own trajectory has been somewhat slower. The upside of that though is that Bayside have been able to develop their own sound, do what they do, and not pander to record execs asking for the next All The Small Things or Stupid Kid. It also breeds a fiercely passionate fan base.

 

They may not have one big breakthrough hit but there is a quality to their music that goes deeper than the moody, guitar driven emo it’s presented as. This is in no small part to the phenomenal guitar work of Jack O’Shea. His energy and frantic riffs and solos underpin many of the bands songs; a particularly impressive hammer-on solo on the title track from 2007’s The Walking Wounded sees arms held aloft in adoration.

 

Throughout the night lead singer Anthony Raneri keeps interaction with the crowd to a minimum but the bands smiles tell you how much they’re enjoying this. It’s no problem to this crowd though; less talking means more music.

 

Its hard to pick stand out tracks from a high octane set where every word is sung back with gusto, but Sick Sick Sick is particularly ferocious and the hook of Boy from 2008’s Shudder is enough to whet the appetite of anybody uninitiated with the bands back catalogue.

 

There are even hints of dark Black Sabbath like riffs on They Looked Like Strong Hands, whilst the fire of the encore closing Devotion and Desire leaves everyone wanting more.

 

The upside of being a band who break into the mainstream is you get to play to larger and larger crowds. The downside is that most of them don’t know more than one out of every three songs you play. As a cult band you know every fan adores every note and word.

 

Watching Bayside it’s hard to pinpoint fan favourites; every track goes down as well as the last. It maybe goes to show that success in music isn’t about the amount of people listening to it; its about the amount of people feeling it.