It wasn’t a venue, there was no stage, and the small room wasn’t even packed when they started playing at midnight. But MAYDAY! somehow made it work. The performance was live and the crowd warmed up to them pretty quickly. By the end of the 45-minute set, the room was pretty much full of people rockin to their Miami-bred rock/electro/hip hop set.
The band, consisting of MCs BernBiz and Wrekonize, 2 keyboardists, a percussionist, and a drummer, creates a full sound. All are more than solid at their instruments and the set up is interesting. They basically have 2 of everything (MCs, keyboardists, and drummers), and yet the duos all feed off each other well. One thing I’ve found from experience is that it is often difficult for band members to stay in their lanes, but these guys seem to have bought in to the formula.
About 2/3 of the way through the fast-paced, electro-heavy set they slowed it down a little with the catchy song ‘Technology.’ I noticed this is where the crowd really seemed to connect with the band and feel the music, especially since this string of shows is the band’s NYC debut and their fanbase is clearly not strong here yet. I have a feeling if they stuck around here they could make some noise, though.
After the show I went home and checked out their myspace (myspace.com/firstdayofmay) and I must say I was not as impressed with their recorded material as I was with their live performance. I think the biggest thing holding this band back is the lack of great songwriting. That being said, their show is so full of energy I can’t wait to see them again tomorrow night (Thurs, Sept. 2) at Southpaw in Brooklyn. I really think the future could be bright for MAYDAY!.