When I was 12, I spent about 6 months in the hospital. I won’t get into details, but during that time my older sister loaded up an iPod for me to have. The first album I gravitated towards was A Lesson In Romantics, released in 2007. The first time I had ever listened to a punk band, a moment that would change my music taste forever. Later in 2011, I would attend my first concert, Mayday Parade and the University of Pitt at Greensburg. While I do not listen to Mayday Parade as much as I did back then, the band still holds a special place in my heart. Being able to attend and photograph this show was awesome.
Stage AE Indoors is such an awesome venue, and Mayday Parade brought one of the best lighting setups I have ever seen. Large screens behind the band played different animated videos, featuring song lyrics and awesome visual art relating to the albums. The crowd was locked in the entire night, belting out lyrics and jumping around. It wouldn’t be a punk show without a few crowd surfers as well!
Mayday Parade is celebrating TWENTY years of being a band, after their first release in 2005. What a better way to celebrate a milestone like that, than to take the crowd through the years. The setlist went chronologically, as they played a couple songs from each release over the years. However, the band did open with a song of their newest release before getting into the older music.
Not only did the setlist take the crowd through the years, it also took the crowd through every emotion you can feel. The band was able to slow it down with songs like “Miserable at Best” or “Terrible Things,” accompanied by a beautiful piano performance by lead vocalist Derek Sanders. The setlist also brought the energy with classic songs like “Jersey” and “Oh Well, Oh Well.”
A fantastic mix of old and new, a performance for fans of all Mayday Parade eras. Closing out the night with an encore of “Jamie All Over” was the perfect capstone to a great show.
Photos and words by Tom Randall (www.instagram.com/trandallphoto)
Live from the Pitt 