Images: Bayside, Senses Fail, Man Overboard, Seaway March 13, 2015 at Hard Rock Live

Bayside’s Friday the 13th show at Hard Rock Live sold out before the doors even opened, so I suspected I was in for an elbow-to-elbow night of sticky floor fun, and I was right.

Celebrating 15 years as a band, Bayside took this tour as an opportunity to really span their discography, performing 17 songs, and three in an encore, with constant stage diving and fists in the air keeping smiles on the band members’ faces as they plowed through fan favorites. The crowd only came up for air briefly, when frontman Anthony Raneri took the stage to belt out “Don’t Call Me Peanut” alone, but the energy quickly shot back up as they closed with “Big Cheese” and “Devotion and Desire.” No matter how many times I see them, I’m always impressed with Bayside’s performances. They seem genuinely happy to be playing, which is an infectious feeling for fans, and I’m hoping for another 15 years of that feeling.

Senses Fail started their set in the direct support spot in the best possible way, with “You’re Cute When You Scream” and frontman Buddy Nielson immediately jumping into the crowd.  His energy-soaked performance and endless crowd interaction lasted throughout their entire performance, right through the very last song, “Bite To Break Skin.” The set was broken up with Buddy speaking out, as he did late last year on the 100 Words or Less Podcast, about his former addictions to sex and drugs. Albeit lengthy for a note between songs, his dialogue was well received as he spoke about not believing in gender binarism, previously exploring his sexuality in punishing ways, and drinking every day for 9 years due to anxiety of “just living.” He closed the segment by encouraging fans to strive for authenticity in all things, and despite the many fights that broke out over the course of the night, I was happy to see such a positive reaction to such a lengthy cut between songs, from so many alcohol-infused fans. I think anyone who went to that show not knowing who Senses Fail was walked away with a personal note to immediately jump headfirst into listening to everything they’ve ever released.

Although it’s been awhile since Man Overboard was at the tip of everyone’s tongue, you wouldn’t know it from the huge number of fans singing along, sloppily dancing, and just overall enjoying themselves during their set. Not going to lie, I even caught myself dancing around a bit. That said, Man O’s shows feel quite a bit different than they used to. It seems that each set of theirs I’ve caught since 2012 has been more and more straight business. I remember seeing them for the first time, and being drawn in by their interactions with fans, like asking for setlist requests before the show, and just having a friendly stage banter. Now, with frontman Zac Eisenstein sporting aviator sunglasses for the entire set and never saying a word to the audience, I feel a loss of connection. Thankfully for now, the tunes themselves seem to do enough to get the crowd moving.

Toronto’s Seaway were first up, and with this being an 18+ show, I expected their fanbase to be largely absent. Thankfully, I was wrong, and there were plenty of fans pressed against the barricade, singing along to every song. The band looked like cool, confident pros up there, and I have a feeling we’ll be hearing a lot more about them in the coming years.

-Hunter Wallace | https://www.flickr.com/photos/hunter_wallace/