Mayday Parade
With The Make, There For Tomorrow, You Me At Six, and We Are The In Crowd
Revolution Live, Fort Lauderdale
Friday, November 18
Where were all the underage hipster punks partying on Friday? Apparently at the local Mayday Parade show.
The concert was part of "The Noise Tour," one of several tours that feature Warped Tour bands. The opening acts were so-so aside from a few worthy exceptions, none of which have to do with music. There for Tomorrow's lead guitarist, Christian Climer, looks like Ryan Gosling. You Me At Six encouraged crowd surfing with their adorable British accents, and taunted the security guards: "These men in the front are paid by the hour to catch you. Look at how excited they are!"
Mayday's actual performance was decent. They clearly enjoy performing. The head-bashing, swirling hair, and swinging guitars are evidence of this. Lead singer Derek Sanders' shoulder-length, stringy haircut is even a little bit endearing. But then he starts to sing and even with the overpowering drum beat it's apparent that he can't hit the high nor the low pitches. His singing is good but flat.
The setlist was a decent mix of their old and new songs, the old ones being much more creative and enthusiastic. About halfway through the show most of the band members left the stage leaving only Sanders and drummer Jake Bundrick.
"How many of you want to hear a sad song?" said Bundrick to the crowd. "Say 'sing us a sad song Derek!"
And they did but not before Sanders told everyone about his new baby daughter. "Miserable at Best" was the ballad they played, mixing Sanders' higher pitch with Bundrick's lower tones for a seductive medley. This might have been the only song to mesmerize us and the crowd, who sang the entire song in unison.
What was disappointing was catching Sanders in a pseudo-lie when he declared "we've been doing this for six years..."
The band has been touring for six years, Sanders has only been a member for four of them. But nevertheless it didn't seem to matter to their rabid fans.
Finally, it was the band's enthusiasm that made the show decent enough to watch through the end. Aside from their enthusiasm they very much care for their fans. Sanders asked the venue for water bottles on several occasions, choosing to throw them into the crowd instead of drinking them himself. Giving back to fans is what every band should be doing, other bands should take notes.
Critics Notebook:
Point Score: 5 out of 10 stars
Overheard in the crowd: A man was hitting on a woman. His opening line? "So...how old are you?"
The crowd: Half the kids in the crowd hadn't hit puberty, and so no one was smoking
the pot that's usually so common at South Florida concerts. Instead, we
were left with the disturbing sight of a 15-year-old crowd surfing in torn
Daisy Dukes and a belly shirt.
Partial Set list:
1. Oh Well, Oh Well
2. Jersey
3. Anywhere but Here
4. When You See My Friends
5. When I Get Home You're So Dead
6. Miserable at Best
7. Stay
8. Walk on Water or Drown
9. No Heroes Allowed
10. Kids in Love
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