Mayday Parade have been a success right from the get-go. Their debut EP, released in 2006, sold over 50,000 copies without any label support. Since then, the band have only risen. They have become a name everybody knows and a band everybody wants to see. Tonight we were given this opportunity in Norwich’s LCR on their Black Lines Tour, with support from fellow American band, The Maine.
The Maine were the main support act of the tour and were a band that much of the crowd had primarily come to see. They had previously played the venue in 2014 in support of Deaf Havana and were back to smash the stage once again.
Similar to their previous performance, the band were still yet to sound-check and spent roughly 10 minutes doing so at the start of their set. This meant they didn’t get a grand entrance onto the stage, but this didn’t hugely matter as their performance more than made up for this. The Maine are a band great at putting on a show. They truly perform their music, feeling the tunes that they play, which always comes across well to a crowd. They had great energy and made full use of the stage, constantly moving about and engaging with the crowd gathered in the centre of the LCR. The band performed an array of their songs, amongst which included: ‘English Girls’, ‘Miles Away’ and ‘Another Night on Mars’.
Midway through the bands set, John O’Callaghan, lead vocalist, requested that the whole crowd put away their mobile phones, stop, and enjoy 3 minutes of music with no distractions. Rightly so, as the band continued to perform each and every song with precision and excellence, which is something that should not be missed. If this wasn’t enough to draw crowd members away from their phones then the interaction with the crowd certainly was. The band begun to joke about Natalie Imbruglia – Torn, asking the crowd how it went. Of course the crowd didn’t disappoint and proceeded to sing the lyrics in sync with the band. Needless to say an element of comedy came into the rendition with the band singing along with the line, “lying naked on the floor”. The band went on to perform another classic with the crowd, ‘Who Let the Dogs Out?’ and then continued with their set that “[was] not as good as who let the dogs out but it [was] close”. It was a great atmosphere and put the crowd in great stead for the tour headliners, Mayday Parade. As the band left the stage, bottles and drumsticks were thrown into the eager crowd, and many members of the mass left, having seen who they came for.
However the enthusiasm towards the gig and the tour headliners was not lost as the set-up and band’s sound check begun. One member of the crew begun to test a keyboard on stage, performing the tune of Journey’s, ‘Don’t Stop Believing’. This brought about great cheers and ended in boo’s when the crew member stopped playing. However it wasn’t long after this that the room faded into darkness for Mayday Parade’s entrance.
Smoke filled the stage from either side, purple lights glowed from below, blue lights beamed down from above and the stage was set for the band who entered from the right hand side to a screaming, fan-filled crowd. From the get-go the energy and pace of the show was set. Flashing lights revealed the band on stage, high-energy consumed the band and crowd and the fast paced nature of the show took over the LCR. Mayday Parade were here in Norwich and they were ready to put on a show. The crowd were fully dedicated to the band in front of them, reaching over the front barriers to reach the band at the front of the stage and holding their phones above their heads to capture photos and videos of the bands set. “Make some noise out there Norwich, c’mon” the band declared as the set got into full motion. The interaction between band and crowd was also something that made the gig all the more interesting, especially for those fans at the front when lead vocalist, Derek Sanders sat on the front of the stage within arm’s length from the front row. This is also what made the LCR the perfect venue for the band. The venue is prestigious, putting on great shows with great crowds, however is the right size with the right layout for it to be intimate with the bands performing. Where the crowd and band can connect through the whole show.
As the crowd fell into darkness the band left the stage, only to return after several minutes of continuous chanting “we want more!” from the fan-filled audience. The band continued by playing a final song to close the show and declared they would be back as soon as possible to “hang out”.
The band had put on a great show that found the balance between greatness and intimacy. It connected with the dedicated fans who had travelled out to see them and wowed the crowd who left with big smiles on their faces after a truly great night. Although it would have been great to see a bigger crowd at the show to see Mayday Parade, their performance was undoubtedly great. I would definitely recommend heading out to see both Mayday Parade and support, The Maine on tour.
Words – Mollie Maddox
Photography – Kayleigh Warren
