Take Action rev up in full swing here. It takes me a bit of time to get fired up about a show. Alot of these bands tour ALOT and if you recall I saw Mayday Parade at the AP Fall Ball just a few months ago. I was moderately pleased I was more annoyed by the teen girl crowd and sing along mentality of it. Sours me sometime. But as I prepare for this interview I’m forced to listen not only to the band but to those who adore them. Mayday Parade has an armada. Hot Topic is hosting a 1 hour meet and greet the day of the show. Amazingly enough it is sold out. We The Kings are headlining and co- hanging at the Hot Topic event. I’m stunned. But I think I’m beginning to logic of the gruelling touring each wave through grabs more and more fans. This is exactly whats happening to Mayday and what inevitably will happen with Call The Cops. Perfect sense.
So now I have to take them more seriously. I have to speak to them and to walk in considering them ‘just another band of the same old stuff on tour STILL’ is unfair to you as a reader, to myself as a writer and to the band. Mostly though it’s a disservice to the battalions of kids who are willing to cattle call through the mall to say “hey hows it going.?” and not even have a photo opp as cameras are banned from the event.
So I start with “Miserable At Best”. I wash a shirt every week that says “without mayday parade Id be miserable at best”. the kids not mine. The lyrics are gut wrenching and if I were a teenager at the prom Id be ruining my Cover Girl make up on this one. Beautifully written touching real lyrics. The ah ha moment. They’re grabbing the niche market more along the lines of Rocket Summer than All Time Low. The maturity is there the emotional tug is there and very well done.
2007s ” A Lesson in Romantics” got them on the map and 2009s ‘Anywhere But Here’ is whats causing the sell outs. The sound is the same there was no epiphany or ‘growing up or artistic advancement. More of the same and I think that’s the good thing here. Consistency. “Jamie All Over” provides the perfect sing along chorus in 2007
“I Swear This Time I Mean IT’ is going to be inaudible. This song will have a thousand 17 year old girls screaming the lyrics. It will make me insane. So as I hear it today through sound blocking earphones I hear why. This is the song every teenage girl wants to hear. How beautiful and lofty are the emotions that flow from this band. Its not sloppy its not contrived. Its believable and in the time of freak show alterations and ‘maturing’ how nice it is to hear a band confident enough to remain on the same path
I am now beyond excited for next week There is much more legwork to do. Much more research to do. I owe it to these guys and I owe it to those who weren’t lucky enough to buy a meet and greet wristband. How lucky we are is yet to be defined.