On Friday, May 12, the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, N.J., was packed for Mayday Parade’s sold-out A Lesson in Romantics 10th Anniversary Tour. I’ve been a fan of Mayday Parade for as long as I can remember, and it was a surreal experience.
For those who may not know, Starland Ballroom is a venue with a 2500-person capacity. I can assure you that every person in that crowd was singing along once Mayday hit the stage.
Opening for Mayday were bands called Milestones and Knuckle Puck. Milestones is a band from the UK, and they put on a great set. The lead singer Matthew Clarke has such a great on stage presence, and really got the crowd ready for Knuckle Puck. Milestones has an EP out called “Equal Measures” and they’re currently signed by Fearless Records. Songs from the EP include “Call Me Disaster,” “Hindsight,” “Nothing Left,” “Equal Measures” and “Shot in the Dark.” If you haven’t checked out Milestones, you definitely should because they put on a great show. Next in store for them is that they’re on tour with Simple Plan in the UK.
After Milestone’s set Knuckle Puck took over the stage. The crowd was pumped and you could tell they already had a huge following. People were singing along to every song, and people we’re crowd surfing the entire set. The set included “Disdain,” “But Why Would You Care?” “No Good,” “Gold Rush,” “Wall to Wall (Depreciation),” “Evergreen,” “Poison Pen Letter,” “Give Up,” ”Fences,” “Untitled” and “Pretense.” I even got to meet two guys from the band, and they’re super sweet and down to earth. Definitely worth checking them out if you haven’t heard of them yet, and they put on a great set.
After Knuckle Puck was finished, Mayday Parade came out in full force. Everyone in that crowd was singing along, and it was one heck of an experience. Since it was a 10 year anniversary tour, they played their entire first album, “A Lesson in Romantics” in its entirety. Some of the crowd favorites from the night were “Jersey,” “Three Cheers for Five Years,” and especially, “Miserable at Best.”
It didn’t matter what song was on the album though, as the crowd was singing for the entire set. The crowd’s energy was so intense, and you can tell everyone was having a blast because every person in that venue looked like they were singing their hearts out.
Needless to say Jersey had a nostalgic night with Mayday Parade for the 10-year anniversary tour, and as Mayday Parade said, “They can’t wait to come back to NJ in another 10 years for the 20 year anniversary tour.”
