End Of The World Tour: Mayday Parade, We The Kings, The Downtown Fiction & Anarbor
For me, each concert is full of unique experiences. You can know the venue perfectly, know every song the band might sing and even think you have the perfect camera settings, but you really never know what will happen until you get to the show. Friday night I was at the End Of The World tour featuring Mayday Parade, We The Kings and support from The Downtown Fiction and Anarbor. I knew it would be a great show from my prior chat with Dave from Mayday Parade [interview here], but what I didn’t know is that one of their vintage Les Paul guitars had been stolen a few days earlier. Because of this, interviews had to be done out near tour buses due to the tighter security. Some may think this is a bad thing, but I enjoyed seeing the bands just relax. We walked passed Travis from We The Kings playing catch with a few other band members. Everyone was just in a good mood getting ready for the night ahead.
Starting off the night, Anarbor took to the stage. With a sold out crowd, they were ready to rock their hometown. When they started though, it brought in a new element to the night, how do I take photos when the light isn’t great. I can pleasantly say that I was able to get some decent shots with a bit of editing work. As the band continued their 30 minute set the fans went wild. Since all the bands have played Warped Tour at some point or another, the concert felt like a mini-Warped. As their set came to a close, the crowd took a moment to relax and sang along to the house music playing. Then, about fifteen minutes later, The Downtown Fiction took to the stage to rock out in a way only they can. They played crowd favorite, ‘I Just Wanna Run’ and Anarbor’s favorite, ‘Out In The Streets.’ The latter song got the crowd going crazy and even prompted some crowd surfing for the few who were up for the challenge. Lead singer Cameron’s vocals were spot on and I truly think this is one of those bands who sound better live than recorded. The talent that some of the members have to play the instruments spot on while running and jumping around stage is insane. It was one of the best live performances I had seen in a while.
After a short intermission to change over the stage, We The Kings were up. This was when the crowd became ecstatic. Some fans had cut out hearts to wave in the air during songs and others made small posters to put up. The band knew how to rock out but took some time to read a funny letter from a fan that got thrown up on stage. Having seen them play last summer, I knew a bit of what to expect, but with a new set list the bar was raised. Playing a flawless cover of ‘The Middle’ and a great rendition of ‘Check Yes Juliet’ it was the perfect blend of old and new music. Their set went on a little longer than planned, but I was more than happy.
Last up on stage was Mayday Parade. With no standing mics set, I knew we were in to watch a lot of running and jumping and that is exactly what happened. All of the guys were running around the stage playing more of their new music. Most had long hair to whip around and got so into the music, I think sometimes they forgot there was an audience. Lead singer, Dave, played around with his mic, throwing it up in the air and spinning it around. It was a demonstration of impeccable showmanship and a great concert as well. If you can catch a date of this tour, I promise you won’t be disappointed.
