When you go see The Maine, you better be ready for an interactive night as the band thrives off breaking the fourth wall and connecting through crowd engagement with witty dialogue, jumping into the crowd, choosing fans to sing into the microphone and crowd voted surprise songs.
Performing to a packed venue at the House of Blues Anaheim, in Anaheim, California, on their third stop of “The Sweet 16 Tour”, or what the band calls their “birthday party”, as they celebrate sixteen years together to perform songs off every era of their nine studio album discography.
A giant disco ball hangs above centre stage. As it spins and glimmers when the lights dim, a medley of songs throughout the nine albums play over the speakers, backed by the crowd cheering as The Maine walks out on stage in black, bejewelled blazers and dress pants to kick off the night with “dose no. 2” off their most recent self-titled album.
Consisting of John O’Callaghan on lead vocals, lead guitarist- Jared Monaco, rhythm guitar- Kennedy Brock, bass guitar- Garrett Nickelsen and Patrick Kirch on drums, the band made sure the night consisted of crowd favourites, such as “Black Butterflies and Dèjá Vu”, “Loved You A Little”, “Everything I Ask For”, and songs that fans were yearning to hear that haven’t been played in many years, such as “Forever Halloween”, “Lost in Nostalgia” and “Misery”, off a twenty-five song set list.
“8123 means everything to me”
The crowd sang at the top of their lungs with all instruments at a halt, a lyric from “We All Roll Along” from their first studio album, Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop. What may sound like four numbers to someone, began as an address where the band spent most of their time in their earlier days and now has grown to be a collective and a family that unites them with their fans.
As O’Callaghan jumps over the barricade and into the crowd to sing “We All Roll Along”, passing the mic to a fan, it wouldn’t be the last of his interactive surprises. As Monaco and O’Callaghan disappear from the stage, only to emerge in the audience by the soundboard to perform “Sticky” off their eighth studio album, XOXO.
Oh, the fan experience doesn’t stop there!
“Don’t think about it, just fucking come up here. Yeah, you! C’mon, C’mon, quick! Don’t think about it!”
As O’Callaghan hand picks a fan to come up on stage during the middle of “Girls Do What They Want”, to sing the last part of the verse with the band.
“All I feel after all these years is fucking gratitude. Thank you very much for letting us play music. You all make it happen so thank you very, very fucking much. Thank you, thank you, thank you”, O’Callaghan preaches as he and the band are grateful for the continued support for letting them live their dreams.
Those words of respect reflect true as the night came to a close but each member of the band took the time to personally gift set lists, guitar picks and drums sticks to the fans at the barricade. Just when the band could’ve wrapped it there, as the house lights went up, each member stayed and took their time to meet with as many fans as they could.
Without a doubt, 8123 means everything to The Maine.
As a band that’s constantly touring, O’Callaghan bids the crowd a, “we’ll see you soon” but in his own quirky words-
“We'll see you when we’re looking at you.”