Last Thursday marked the return of Bayside to Nottingham. Last time they were here was last April when they supported Alkaline Trio, but this time they managed to get a huge turnout on the top of the bill.
Subbing were Southampton punks Creeper, who managed to put on an impressive show. Kicking things off with “We Had a Pact”, they launched straight into playing all the tracks off their self-titled EP along with one new song. They’re a notably tight live band, well-rehearsed and always sound great.
Their stage presence is good, too, but their theatrics sometimes come across as simply too dramatic, no better proof is closer “Novena”. It’s hard to see where Creeper fit in in the punk community; they’re currently in heavy rotation on Kerrang!, but it’s undeniable that they’re a good band with a good live show.
Bayside kicked things off with the combination of “Pigsty”, “The Walking Wounded” and “Duality” which immediately set the atmosphere for the rest of the evening. They blasted through song after song, playing chunks of four or five hits without stopping to break in between.
The band carried on in similar fashion throughout the entire set, peppering in classics like “Montauk” and “Sick Sick Sick” while songs like “Blame it On Bad Luck” got massive singalongs.
They’re a musically tight band, especially live, where the guitar solos really stand out. They don’t seem to pop as much on the record, but guitarist Jack O’Shea regularly stole the spotlight as he shredded through the tracks.
Bayside rounded things off with “Big Cheese” and “Devotion and Desire”, both of which saw lots of movement in the crowd. They’re a great band, clinically underrated, as they explained this was their first headline UK tour in their 15 years of being a band – which makes absolutely no sense. Definitely a band to check out when they’re in town.
