The final Australian stop on Mayday Parade’s world tour at the Astor Theatre was a nightly spectacle of mostly pop-punk sensibilities. Supported by other pop-punk comrades Avastera and The Early November, the all-ages show played host to mostly teen fans head bopping throughout the night. Feeling somewhere halfway between an all-out mosh-pit and a tentatively reluctantly, unmoved crowd – if you knew the lyrics to their songs you were going to have a whale of a time, if not then you felt like a drunken participant in your parents karaoke, trying mime the words awkwardly to look hip and cool.
Avastera did rip up the stage however, setting a high bar for the opening act and showcasing local Pop-punk Perth Talent to the other two juggernauts of the genre. Smashing out their set, the fans near the front of the stage ate them up and took upon their music like cocaine and candy. With the instrumentation being amply good, containing the catchy rhythms and fast-paced guitar solos you expect from a band like Avastera, they kept it up and ultimately impressed the early-bird punters, proving to provide an impressive start to the night with a bang.
The Early November were the next band to be brought up on to the stage, much like Avastera – they provided to the crowd an high-energy pop-punk which was too hard not to get addicted to. With songs featuring a quick-paced four-four time signature so fast, it could allow any rhythm guitarist to spontaneously combust (it was surprising there wasn’t any emergency fire extinguisher placed carefully next to the band). Rolling through the motions, the band finished up with a bunch of tightly wound tracks, nothing feeling too messy and out of place. Lead singer Ace Enders thanked the crowd for being there, with the crowd applauded their impressive performance.
Mayday Parade’s set was very much a thank you letter to the fans, with the band emerging to great fanfare and adulation from the crowd. Opening with Jersey, the band dived straight into the emotional heartbreak feels behind most pop-punk tracks. Getting the feel just right from the get go, the band let go of a torrential force of heady punk rhythms and tangibly emotional lyrics. With the crowd already propped up into full gear, little effort was needed from the band to hype the crowd up any further.
Despite the fast-paced nature of the band’s music, the members were accommodating, humble and chill. Lead singer Derek Sanders showed much love for the Perth crowd, noting how unfair it was bigger bands often skipped Perth – the punters ate his compliments right up with an explosive applause. The band took more a stripped back, emotional turn halfway through their set, with Sanders turning to the keys to pump out some tracks. It was at these moments when the band was at its most versatile, when it alternated between the party-driven pop-punk to the poignantly emotional.
With the tail end of the set pushing back into the raw, rock n’ roll territory, the crowd started to feel like a wild party. With many members now throwing their hands in air and almost breaking into slight mosh, it was a fact of the night that the gig had reached peak Mayday. Cracking out Let’s Be Honest, Stay and Miserable at Best, each individual band member went into full drive – including lead guitarist Alex Garcia who took the front of the stage to show off an intense guitar solo to the punters. With an encore in tow and a crowd begging for more, Mayday Parade finished up with I’d Hate to Be You When People Find Out What This Song Is About by Mayday Parade. They then threw various items to the crowd, including drum sticks, water bottles plectrums – probably in an effort to reduce their baggage limit for their next show in Manila.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Linda Dunjey Photography
