Live Review: Mayday Parade, The Early November

It's Thursday night at the Eatons Hill Hotel and hearts are ready to be set alight by the creative musings of US pop-punk/emo-inflected rock heavyweights, Mayday Parade.

The night opens with New Jersey-bred alt-rockers The Early November. Their music, emotive and earnest, fuels the crowd’s anticipation with tracks from their albums In Currents (2012) and Imbue (2015). The band’s energy, blended with charm, humour and a deep appreciation for their audience, takes great steps to getting the positive vibes for the night flowing.

Just after 9.30pm, the lights are dimmed and the screams of a female-dominated all ages crowd pierce the air. A flurry of pink and blue lights dance across the stage welcoming the night's headliners as they launch into their old school hit, Jersey, from their first album, 2007's A Lesson In Romantics. Looking around the ground floor and mezzanine, audience members are cheering, jumping and belting out the lyrics as if their lives depend on it. And maybe, for them, it does; Mayday Parade are predominantly enjoyed by teenagers and young adults. The emotional catharsis offered by the band's music and lyrics fosters a close connection with people going through key developmental stages in their identity — and in turn reflects the experiences of their fans.

Although touring Australia to promote their latest album, last year's Black Lines, the set list for tonight is very much a throwback to favourites from Mayday Parade’s earlier repertoire. Tracks including When You See My Friends, Jamie All Over, Black Cat, Oh Well, Oh Well and Three Cheers For Five Years invoke the nostalgia of the audience, who, upon recognising the very first chord, unleash another round of screams towards the stage. The band also demonstrate that they aren’t afraid to reveal their heavier side in newer songs Let's Be Honest and One Of Them Will Destroy The Other. Ghosts displays a more light-hearted pop-punk character, giving lead guitarist Alex Garcia a chance to show off his technical ability with arpeggios. Lead vocalist Derek Sanders takes the opportunity to go acoustic on guitar, then on keyboard, offering an intimate recital of Letting Go, Stay and Terrible Things. Final acoustic number Miserable At Best summons a unity of torchlights and swaying arms. In an inspired moment, Sanders tells us to keep singing and quietly leaves the stage with the audience still singing the song until completion. As the final words ring out, chills run up this writer's arms, as a silent understanding is shared among the crowd that beyond the singer and the band, their music lives on because it is a part of us.

Following a thundering chant for an encore, the band returns to play I'd Hate To Be You When People Find Out What This Song Is About. The audience musters their energy for a final display of exhilaration as they revel in the special communion that is singing a favourite song along with a favourite band. The beauty of Mayday Parade’s music is that they, by some lyrical sorcery, are able to put the ineffable into words. They articulate the unsaid utterances of anyone who has dealt with heartbreak, lack of closure or just downright shit situations. They let us know it is okay be vulnerable. And, well, in the times we live in, that is so important.