The Salt Lake Tribune, October 20th, 2009

You know you're at a good rock show when the lead singer gets off his sickbed to storm the stage and high-five swine flu into the crowd.

Say Anything didn't just come to play, they came to entertain, and a terrible fever wasn't going to stop lead singer Max Bemis from either aim Monday night. The six-man crew opened the set with "Alive with the Glory of Love," bouncing around the crowded Club Sound stage, six balls of energy ready to either explode or collapse in on themselves.

With all six guys wearing a white button-down shirt tucked into dark pants, they looked like tieless missionaries, though it's doubtful too many missionaries are proselytizing with lines like "I called her on the phone and she touched herself. I laughed myself to sleep."

Bemis kept the crowd at frenzy's edge, beaconing their screams on "I Hate Everyone" and punctuating each lyric on "Shiksa" with a twist of the head or a stab at the air.

The crowded bill began with Moneen, Moving Mountains and Eisley, whose members were also under the weather (not surprising considering Sherri DuPree of Eisley is married to Bemis). Eisley also soldiered along, interspersing longtime favorites "Marvelous Things," "Memories" and "Invasion" with some new songs from their current EP and forthcoming album. Eisley's hallmark harmonies were a little tarnished in the beginning of the set, but drummer Weston DuPree's tribal beats and off-beat tambourine were as solid as ever. The next album sounds as promising as the first two.

And for one night and one night only, the tour was augmented with a special performance by New York's Bayside, led by tortured troubador Anthony Raneri. This foursome never fails to please, and with so many sing-along lyrics, the crowd screamed right along on "They're Not Horses, They're Unicorns," "Carry On," "Montauk" and closer "Devotion and Desire."

Part of Bayside's appeal is Raneri's believeability. It's hard not to imagine he still sings lines like "Pound my knuckles hard against the floor, my head against the wall, but I did this to myself" and "How could I know that everything you say are lies about devotion and desire" with the same angst as the moment the ink touched the paper.

From top to bottom, these bands performed their hearts out, seemingly unbothered by illness, venue change, rain or the tiny stage. They made it a personal mission to bring the rock, and what's more rock than sharing swine flu with a few hundred of your closest fans?