Mayday Parade Gets Spooky at First Ave

Last updated on December 17th, 2021 at 02:58 am

It’s Halloween 2018 and as we all know, nothing says spooky quite like an emo-punk concert, right?

Well, maybe.

Regardless, setting aside any arguments of whether this genre is a traditional Halloween indicator or not, the recent performance of the “Welcome To Sunnyland” tour with appearances by Oh, Weatherly, William Ryan Key, This Wild Life, and Mayday Parade was appropriately chilling.

 

Here Tonight and Starting off Right

An explosive start to Oh, Weatherly’s set beginning promptly at 5:30 PM set the bar for the night with a promising high energy and zest.

I’ve heard a lot of talk about this band recently within the scene but hadn’t really taken the time to listen to them yet, (which turned out to be quite the mistake on my part).

These guys were awesome and made a phenomenal opener. It’s always really impressive when a tour can be strung together and it has all of its components just make sense.

With the perfect mix of an upbeat sound with a lyrically more serious undertone, Oh, Weatherly ties the lineup together perfectly, complimenting it entirely.

 

During some downtime in their set, frontman, Blake Roses, mentioned how much it meant to be on tour with bands so important to them.

As their set continued on, this made a lot more sense. It seemed as though the more I listened to them, the more that I was reminded of the A Lesson in Romantics Mayday Parade era which is arguably their best, (don’t @ me).

It was made pretty clear that Oh, Weatherly takes quite a bit of influence from the headlining band on this tour. This is impressive since I have yet to encounter a band capable of emulating that particular sound, as it is so unique.

 

I look forward to catching these guys around the Twin Cities in the future. Until the next time they come around, be sure to listen to their latest album Lips Like Oxygen!

 

Oh, Weathely Setlist:

Here Tonight

Chasing California

Lost and Found

I Think I Want You

Dark of the Night

Burned Out

Make You Bright

 

Virtuous Vulnerability

William Ryan Key (formerly of Yellowcard) was up next for a much more mellow set aided only by a drummer and an acoustic guitar.

Though the tempo was slower, it still seemed appropriate.

Since the last Yellowcard show in 2017 Key has been focusing on solo work, much of which he played. With one ep out and another dropping shortly he’s definitely been busy!

 

Towards the end of the set, he was kind enough to play an acoustic rendition of Ocean Avenue, Yellowcard’s most well-known song.

During the first two times through the chorus, he allowed fans to revel in nostalgia as he stopped singing, backed away from the microphone stand, and relied on the audience to fill in the blanks.

Ocean Avenue is such a defining song for the teenage years of so many individuals and hearing it performed in this way felt like almost a tribute to how much of an impact Yellowcard had on so many of us over the years.

It definitely was a neat experience to watch Key as he performed a much more stripped-down live set than what Yellowcard fans may be used to, and what made it better is that he was entirely successful even with his new sound.

William Ryan Key Setlist:

Vultures

The Bowery

Old Friends

Downtown (Up North)

Ocean Avenue (Yellowcard Cover)

Virtue

 

Very Cool!

This Wild Life was next and for me, they were a highly anticipated part of the evening.

I am a pretty big fan, and after being unable to catch them at Warped Tour this year I was looking forward to hearing some newer material off of their most recent album, Petaluma as it is absolutely breathtaking.

The first thing I noticed, was a giant pill bottle prop that stood on the stage behind the duo, scribbled with catchy puns like “prescription strength emotional music” and “jam daily 365 days”.

This Wild Life has created such a perfect balance of sad breakup songs, aesthetic value, and not taking themselves too seriously.

I definitely appreciate the touch of humor and humanization they add to their otherwise deep and somber music.

They played a pretty fair mix of older and newer songs. Along the way, they kept audience participation up with ease, as they asked fans to dance, shine lights, and sing along. They even went so far as to dedicate a song to a couple in the audience!

One quirky thing I noticed about frontman, Kevin Jordan is that after nearly every song, he’d put a thumbs-up in the air and exclaim, all smiles, “Very cool!”.

He must have been referring to the environment that is created while they’re on stage, and what it is like to see them live!

 

This Wild Life Setlist:

Concrete

Positively Negative

Puppy Love

Westside

History

Hold You Here

Blink-182 Medley – What’s My Age Again?/All The Small Things/First Date

Catie Rae

Headfirst

No More Bad Days

 

From Sunnyland To Spookyland

Since the bands had Halloween day off during the tour, Mayday Parade decided it was best to celebrate with us the day before. They went all out!

From creepy trees strung with spiderwebs, masks, and skeletons, to the entire band being coated in face paint to match, it definitely made for a fantastic themed set.

Not going to lie, it felt pretty cool to be getting such an exclusive and unique rendition of the show that those who went to other dates wouldn’t get to experience.

As soon as Mayday Parade took the stage there was a burst of yellow lights that filled the room as fog machines like the ones at your local roller rink in grade school began spewing out smoke which invaded all spaces of the venue.

Throughout the night Mayday Parade played plenty of old favorites as well as newer hits off of Sunnyland.

 It felt like the perfect mix of a setlist, with something included for everyone, from the fan that has supported them for the full eighteen years, to the fan that just happened upon them yesterday.

(And to make the setlist even more perfect, they had to play Black Cat which is more than appropriate for a Halloween-themed show!)

For me, Mayday Parade was always a band that had a lot of relatable and sad songs that I could fall back on when I was in high school. I’ve loved watching them grow over the years and watching as they continued to create music and flourish within their genre.

Sunnyland specifically felt much more upbeat and somewhat refreshing, like it was the promising and positive album that my teenage self probably needed.

It was refreshing as well, to see audience members, smiling, jumping, and singing along throughout the night. Of course, it wasn’t hard to participate, as Mayday Parade always puts on a high-energy and engaging show!

 

Mayday Parade Setlist:

Never Sure

Jersey

It’s Hard To Be Religious When Certain People Are Never Incinerated By Bolts Of Lightning

Black Cat

Hold On To Me

Piece Of Your Heart

I Swear This Time I Mean It

Medley: My Friends Over You/I’m Not Okay (I Promise)/Cute Without The “E”

Jamie All Over

Somebody That I Used To Know (Cover)

Anywhere But Here

One Of Us

Looks Red, Tastes Blue

Three Cheers For Five Years

Miserable At Best

Stay

 

Encore:

Oh Well, Oh Well

 

 

Happy Halloween! In honor of keeping all things spooky, I’ll end in old daunting chain-mail fashion by saying this:

You've been SPOOKED! Be sure to like this article and share it with three friends from your trick-or-treating squad or else the ghouls of Spookyland will lurk in your closet tonight! Ooooh!