Sunday 24 September 2017

A Lesson in Romantics 10th Anniversary Tour

Mayday Parade have been one of my favourite bands since they started out - and that's over 10 years ago now. Their music and lyrics resonate really strongly with me, and I have so many memories that are connected to their songs; they really are so special to me and when I got tickets to the 10th anniversary tour for their first album, I was already counting down the days. I rarely do gig reviews because I find them so awkward to write but it was such a beautiful night that I couldn't not write about it - and I'm going to make an effort to review more of the gigs I have lined up this year so if you're interested in this sort of stuff, keep an eye out!

I can't comment on either support band each too much; the first band was All Get Out but we got there when their set had already finished so there's literally nothing I can say. Next up was With Confidence who are an Australian pop-punk band who have an incredible amount of energy - and confidence, funnily enough - but they really weren't my sort of thing which is odd, because I love pop punk, but something was definitely lacking. The younger crowd seemed to enjoy their set, though, so there's that.

Finally, at 9.15, Mayday Parade came on stage, opening with Jamie All Over which is the first track on the album. It was honestly mind-blowing. They went straight into Black Cat, then said hello and all that sort of thing, then carried on with When I Get Home You're So Dead and Jersey. More chatting about how they were so happy to be back in Manchester, and then it was time for If You Wanted A Song Written About You, All You Had To Do Was Ask - if you're a Mayday Parade fan you'll have noticed this is is the album order, which is what they did: just played the album right through. I have to say I'm a massive fan of this sort of set up.


Then out came the keyboard and it was time for Miserable At Best which is honestly one of my favourite songs in the entire world - when my grandad died, my best friend sang it to me while she played it on the keyboard and it was so lovely, and it's something that will always stick in my mind. Seeing it live was such a special experience and they did it perfectly. I don't think there was anyone in the crowd who wasn't singing along and I can't think of anything more amazing.

They finished off the rest of the album and said their thank-yous and goodbyes, but it'd only been an hour and nobody wanted it to end - we knew there would be an encore, but as they'd played the entire we didn't have a clue what it would be. Derek came out with an acoustic guitar and sang a cover of Punk Rock Princess by Something Corporate, then everyone got their lighters out and he sang Terrible Things which is hands down the most emotional song in existence. As the song drew to a close, the rest of the band came out and they sang Three Cheers For Five Years from their debut EP. They followed that with Kids In Love which is such an absolute bop.

In a double encore sort of situation, they came out again for one more to end the night - Oh Well, Oh Well. And it was amazing. I loved every second of the gig; I've never seen a band so happy on stage and so in love with what they're doing. 10/10 would recommend going to see Mayday Parade if they're ever touring near you.

Ps, pls excuse the random photo but I didn't get any good ones at the gig & thought this looked pretty emo - so definitely fitting.

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