We had too much fun to get too emotional.
Whether you’re still in your pop punk phase, or you look fondly on that phase you had as an awkward teen going through puberty you would have definitely worshipped Mayday Parade.
They were the band that got you through your emo phase. Yes, we’re talking heartbreak, possible suicide attempts, disappointments.. the list goes on. We know you found solace in listening to their songs on repeat as it gives them that extra comfort that six, now five men knew exactly how you felt. (Don’t worry, we did too.) You could almost say we were all Miserable at Best.
“And the hardest part of living is just taking breaths to stay
Cause I know I’m good for something”
Back from their third sold out show, Mayday Parade were greeted by scores of both younger and older fans who painstakingly queued up outside *SCAPE The Ground Theatre hours before the doors opened just to get the clearest view of their Tallahassee natives.
Local pop punk act, Aspectrum opened the show with just the right amount of energy to hype the crowd. We’ve seen these guys play many shows and it’s no surprise that with each show they play they just get better and better. It’s incredibly impressive and humbling to see a trend in more people supporting our local musicians. (Three Cheers for change in hearts!) Backed up with slightly more interesting new originals and Tejo’s insane stage antics, it’s no doubt that this young band will go far.
The already tired fans immediately got thrown into a head banging frenzy when the band opened with ‘Ghosts‘ from their latest album Monsters in the Closet. Fun fact: Derek played the entire show barefoot. Next came ‘Jamie All Over‘ and this song was what really transformed just another gig to the ULTIMATE sing along session.
Throughout the entire show, Derek’s crowd commanding vocals got the best of us. A good portion of the older fans were belting lyric after lyric as if their life depended on it, whilst younger fans tried to catch up. The band’s stage presence was as great as we imagined it to be, the chemistry between the band definitely became a catalyst for even more intense guitar strumming.
Apart from the ear deafening screaming from fan girls, it was pretty great to see moshing and crowdsurfing happen within the crowd. More people should really go all out at concerts like these, it might be a safety hazard but nothing should be holding you back!
There was a collective squeal of excitement when the band broke into ‘Jersey‘, a song from A Lesson in Romantics which came out in 2007. It’s heartwarming to see a band reaching their first big 1-0 acknowledge the fact that they’re all growing up (with us). But this just proves that you’re never too old to ‘pop punk’.
On a scale of 1-10, Popspoken gives this gig-of-our-teenage-years out of 10. (15/10?)
Set-list
Ghosts
Jamie All Over
When You See My Friends
Your Song
12 Through 15
You Be The Anchor That Keeps My Feet On The Ground
Girls
Black Cat
Miserable at Best
Stay
Hold Onto Me
Kids in Love
Three Cheers for Five Years
Oh Well, Oh Well
Jersey
I’d Hate to Be You When People Find Out What This Song Is About
Image credit: Alvin Ho, Dawn Chua, Randy Tan, Syazwan Kamsani / Upsurge Productions
