Text and Images by McCall Cox
“You guys could be at home watching Netflix but you guys are here,” said Mayday Parade frontman Derek Sanders when expressing his gratitude to the fans.
Mayday Parade performed at the Electric Factory last Thursday with Real Friends, This Wild Life and As It Is. The four bands are performing across America this fall as part of the AP Tour. The tour kicked off on October 14 in Boston, making the Philadelphia show the second concert of the tour schedule.
As It Is was the first act to take the stage, eliciting screams from many of the band’s female friends. The energetic quintet thanked fans for being so welcoming and supportive, given the band’s UK roots. Between their set, the band engaged the crowd as frontman Patty Walters excited the crowd for the following acts. As It Is performed six songs, including “Can’t Save Myself” and concluded their set with their big hit “Dial Tones.”
This Wild Life took to the stage next. The duo, comprised of singer and guitarist Kevin Jordan and backup vocalist and guitarist Anthony Del Grosso, slowed things down for their set, performing only with acoustic guitars. Jordan provided the back stories that inspired some songs, such as how “No More Bad Days” was written about his mother who had undergone chemotherapy and how “Puppy Love” was inspired by the unconditional love of Jordan’s dog who he had to give up due to the rigors of This Wild Life’s touring schedule. The band also performed a cover of “Sleepwalking,” a Bring Me The Horizon original, and the single “Concrete” from This Wild Life’s 2014 album Clouded.
Real Friends followed next in the line-up of the evening. The Illinois natives produced a wall of sound in true pop-punk fashion.
Shortly after taking the stage, singer Dan Lambton addressed the crowd, saying, “If you ever feel inadequate, like you’re going nowhere… Real Friends understands.”
He then told the audience to put their phones away.
“The Internet has had enough Real Friends,” he said.
Lambton went on to express his love for Philadelphia after another few songs, calling it a beautiful city and saying he would love to move here someday.
“I fucking love you, Philly,” Lambton added.
He also encouraged shy fans to join in with the music and crowd surf and orchestrated a circle mosh pit in the audience. Before launching into their single “I’ve Given Up On You,” Lambton took a moment to address the crowd about the nearing holiday season and to provide comfort to those who have either lost someone or an important relationship in their lives.
“I just want you to know, if you’re missing someone and it just feels like a piece of you is missing and you’re not complete, that there are other things to fill that,” he said, “and you can be strong enough and get past it.”
Amongst other hits, Real Friends performed “Late Nights In My Car,” “I Don’t Love You Anymore,” “Loose Ends” and “Sixteen.”
As the lights dimmed to announce the arrival of the final act of the night and the anticipation grew, the crowd began to chant “Mayday” until Mayday Parade finally walked onto the stage to cheers from the audience. The band opened their set with a single from their new album. The song “One Of Them Will Destroy The Other” features Dan Lambton. Mayday Parade then launched into “Jamie All Over,” a single from their first full-length album and a crowd favorite. After another couple songs, frontman Derek Sanders took a moment to mention the band’s new album Black Lines, which was released on October 9.
Sanders also mentioned that the band is currently celebrating their 10th anniversary. And after ten years of making albums and touring, Mayday Parade knew not only how to feed off the energy of the crowd but also how to interact with the fans. Besides wishing a fan a happy birthday, Sanders devoted a lot of time to speak to the crowd, telling one story about a shirt he used to own that had an image of Batman and Robin kissing. The Mayday Parade singer went on to say how much he loved that shirt but had stopped wearing it due to the looks the image would elicit.
“I really fucking loved that shirt,” Sanders said after mentioning that he had recently found the shirt again and would start wearing it, despite what others thought. “The moral is be yourself, do what you want.”
Sanders performed three acoustic songs, including new Black Lines track “Letting Go.” Mayday Parade balanced promoting new tracks and playing old hits, performing songs such as “Black Cat,” “Ghosts,” “Terrible Things,” and “Oh Well, Oh Well.” Sanders also played two songs on the piano, starting with “Stay” and leading into “Miserable At Best.”
As virtually every person in the Electric Factory belted along to “Miserable At Best,” Sanders instructed the crowd to continue singing as he took his leave from the stage. Shortly after the song had concluded, the audience cheered for an encore. Mayday Parade obliged with two old songs “Just Say You’re Not Into It” and finished with “Jersey.”
Following the show, when asked if he had anything he wished to say about the new album, Mayday Parade drummer Jake Bundrick just encouraged fans to listen to it, stating his favorite track from Black Lines to be “Let’s Be Honest.”
When singer Derek Sanders was asked about what it is like to have devoted fans stay with the band for the decade that Mayday Parade has been together, Sanders said that it is very humbling both to know that many fans have grown up with the band and also to be able to recognize faces at shows in different cities.
“We wanted to do something different,” Sanders said of the new album. “We felt like it was time to branch out a little bit and it feels good. We’re happy. It’s the music we love to make.”
He continued to say that currently his favorite track off the new album is “Until You’re Big Enough.”
This article was originally published via JUMP Philly: https://jumpphilly.com/2015/10/19/mayday-parade-the-electric-factory-with-real-friends-this-wild-life-and-as-it-is/
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