Sunshine Theater went wild Friday night when pop-punk titans Mayday Parade took to the stage and played their final show of the American Lines Tour.
The European version of the tour, Black Lines, began in January and was followed up with the American Lines Tour, which began on March 10 and ended Friday night.
Bassist Jeremy Lenzo has toured internationally with Mayday Parade, and called it a unique experience.
“It’s been fun so far,” he said. “It’s not like any other job. There’s a lot of reward, like getting to see new places all the time. And we just enjoy what we do.”
Co-headlining with Mayday Parade were alternative rock group The Maine. Both bands were accompanied by native southwestern musician Brennan Smiley of The Technicolors.
“The Maine contacted me last minute and wanted to see if (the Technicolors) could come open for them,” he said. “Apparently the original opener left the tour. It was a bit last minute for everyone so I just went out. [Performing solo] was definitely outside of my comfort zone, but it was a nice challenge.”
The Maine followed Smiley’s set, kicking off with their 2008 hit “Into Your Arms,” much to the elation of the crowd, who passionately echoed all of lead singer John O’Callaghan’s vocals.
Mayday Parade performed last, returning to Sunshine Theater after five years. The band played a career spanning set list that included fan favorites “Jamie All Over” and “Kids in Love.”
Their new album, “Black Lines,” marks a heavier direction for the band, exemplified by harder riffs and fewer piano ballads. The album art is different as well, breaking from the established stylized graphic style found in Mayday Parade’s first four album covers for something simpler and more abstract.
“Every record has a repeated pattern, and we wanted to break away from that,” Lenzo said. “We grew up listening to a lot of ‘90s rock, like Bush, and in following that direction we ended up with ‘Black Lines.’ The album cover kind of represents that. We wanted people to be like ‘oh, that’s weird, that’s not usual Mayday Parade’ and have that correlate with the music.”
On the future of Mayday Parade, Lenzo said the band is already working on new material for a potential sixth album, coming at a time in their career when they aren’t feeling pressured to satisfy their fans as much as they are doing what they’d like to do.
“We’re working on stuff individually now,” he said. “We’ll be doing a new album but not sure what direction it’s going to go, still kind of pop rock but heavier maybe. We’re at the point in our career now where if we want to do something, then we can do it. If we like it, we hope the fans will as well, but we just want to make an album we’re happy with.”
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Mayday Parade formed in Tallahassee, Florida in 2005 and gained notoriety early on by playing multiple Vans Warped Tours.
The band released their debut album “A Lesson in Romantics” in 2007 to critical acclaim.
Audrin Baghaie is a culture reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
