[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f you’re a true punk rock lover, then the only place you should have been on Thursday night was at the Bayside concert at The Crofoot in Pontiac. Numerous fans packed the venue to experience the satisfying sound of the Great American Cult tour. The lineup consisted of all different genres of rock, but one thing that wasn’t in short supply was PUNK!
Alan Day of Four Year Strong. Photo/Jamie Limbright
By 7:30 p.m., Cincinnati, OH based-band Mixtapes took the stage to start off the show. And even though the opening band of any concert isn’t exactly the most enjoyable part, I found myself really getting into their sound (but I am always a sucker for a band with a female singer). Mixtapes’ music style was comparable to 90s pop-rock, like Velocity Girl or L7, and their energetic set excited the audience.
A strong transition took place when Daylight took the stage. The sound got heavier and grungier– an was an all-around mood changer. The crowd really started to pick up when the band played their single, “In On It.”
It was only Daylight’s second stop, but they gave a performance to make their name known throughout the Great American Cult tour.
When it came time for Four Year Strong to perform, the Crofoot was packed wall to wall with anxious people awaiting their performance, since fans have been anticipating their next tour since Warped 2012. FYS took the stage strong beginning with “Prepare to be Digitally Manipulated”, and from there it was an excellent mix of old material from albums like Rise or Die Trying and Enemy of the World to their most recent album The Infected, which was released in November 2011.
With Alan Day screaming his face off and Jake Massucco’s fierce drum strikes, Four Year Strong brought an intense
Anthony Raneri of Bayside. Photo/Jamie Limbright
energy to the venue that lasted for the remainder of the evening.
It is tough to believe Four Year Strong has been on a two year hiatus because each member came out on that stage and rocked hard, as if they had never gone away. We can only hope that we will keep seeing more of this band and possibly a fresh album. Fingers crossed, everyone!
Also, for you big Four Year Strong fans (like me) be certain to check out Alan Day’s side project called The Here and Now. The audio is more lyrically mixed with stirring lyrics to boot.
Following FYS’s excitingly energetic performance, it was time for Bayside. As Confucius once quoted, “choose a job you enjoy and you will never have to work a day in your life.” And according to the quote, Bayside has never worked a day in their career. You can just tell be the way each member grazed upon that stage, with instruments in hand, and huge smiles on their faces. Bayside loves what they do– plain and simple as that.
Jack O’Shea shredding the guitar. Photo/Jamie Limbright
Even though it has taken some time throughout the band’s career to get the proper recognition, they certainly have accomplished the deserved attention with the 2014 album, Cult. In my opinion, Cult is the epitome of their discography. With the heavy riffs of Jack O’Shea, truthful lyrics and simple, yet powerful, vocals by Anthony Raneri, Cult makes for a great example of a true punk-rock album.
Bayside set the wheels in motion with an electrifying performance of “Big Cheese” off their new album. The energy did nothing but build throughout their entire hour and a half long set. Bayside stayed true to their roots and played old favorites like “Masterpiece”, “Dear Tragedy”, “The Walking Wounded” and “Don’t Call Me Peanut”, but still made sure to rock new songs off of their new masterpiece.
With Bayside, what you see is what you get. These men stay true to not only their music, but their fans. Each member of the band showed an abundant amount of love and appreciation to every person that came out to the show that night, and I’m honored to be able to say I was one of them.
