Jun
18
2011

The Maine @ The Marquee

(Add / View Comments) (0)Saturday, June 18, 2011 - 11:29:40 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Music Music, Live Shows)
This weekend we've had two high profile concerts. Last night, Poion and Motley Crue, and tonight The Maine. You'd think that the former would be the more obnoxious crowd. But you'd think wrong. Teenage girls are such a weird and annoying species of being, and being in the presence of a sea of them is not something I'd wish on my worst enemy. Thankfully it's something we hardly ever have to deal with, unless we're seeing The Maine. Which I think goes to how highly I think of that band. I will endure they're audience of Maybalene painted screaming teens to see them play. [smile]

We had brought our tickets on a day that offered a special package of early entry and a signed poster. We had no hope of getting there for the early entry, which was fine, however it might have meant avoiding standing in the line of obnoxious teenage girls.

Austin Gibbs opened, and for much of his set we stood in line waiting to pick up the posters. The one guy working the merch table for The Maine and Augustana had a tip jar. Here's a tip for you, oi more so the organizers - if you're playing a venue the size of the Marquee Theatre, pay a few people to work merch! Or let the Austin Gibbs merch guy (who looked very bored and lonely) help out with the other stuff. The upside is that we could hear Austin's set fine, and managed to walk in for the last song or two, so it wasn't a huge problem. Incidently, when we did get to the front of the merch line, we discovered that the band was in the process of signing the posters and we had to come back. Though, we wanted to get tee's, so it wasn't a complete loss.

We ended up sitting outside the Marquee for Augustana's set. We know nothing about them, but despite the roars of screaming girls approval we could here, a few songs in we weren't overly impressed and preferred to hang around outside. It did allow us to easily pick up the posters we were owed before their set ended. We did of course go in for a song or two, and checked out the song that Austin Gibbs and The Maine joined in on.

A bit more waiting until The Maine went on at around 10:15. Tonight's show was the final show of their current North American tour, as well as being a hometown show and so it was a pretty cool show for both of those reasons. And it's a continuing trend that each time we see these guys we see a better show. Comparatively this was a cooler show than what we saw at Arizona State University. Which I guess when it's a show that your fans have actually paid for tickets to, as opposed to a show in front of a bunch of drunk college kids that are most likely there because they have nothing better to do, or are there for the opening band. The enthusiasm and showmanship of this show was certainly much different than the ASU show.

It was kicked off with Don't Stop Now, and was quite Black & White heavy. It there was anything that resembled last night's concert, it was Garrett's insane rock n' roll out of control moves across the stage. How exactly he can throw himself all over the stage like that and actually play bass amazes me. I think he's always been Katie's favorite in the band, and I now understand why.

I always comment on how much this band has done in a small span of time, and we had to laugh when John announced they were going to do "an old song" and they broke into Can't Stop Won't Stop. Here I was thinking we were going to hear something off their first E.P! [wink] And then proudly announced later that the band is "4 years old". Yes, 4 whole years. And they have put out 3 EP's, 2 major label full length albums, a movie soundtrack, a book...and probably a whole bunch of things I can't think of. And of course, are going into the studio after this show to finish the next record. On a similar note, before their set we'd discussed whether or not we'd know all the songs or not this time around, and it was only a few songs in until we heard one we didn't know. Admittedly it could have been a cover, but if not, it goes to how quick these kids are pumping out material. And if it wasn't a cover, it certainly may hint towards a more alternate grungy direction on the next record.

The band pulled out a strange, kinda regae version of Everything I Ask For. It was a cool thing to witness, but one of those things that left you feeling conflicted, because you wanted to see that, but also kinda wanted to hear it the original way. The other bands came out for the Ryan Adams cover of Dance All Night. It looked like they were also going to do a cover of The Car's My Best Friends Girl before John shut it down and farewelled one of their crew members, and proceeded to get emotional about...well, everything. It being their last show of the tour, playing their home town.

The rock n' roll aspect of the show continued with an elongated of Girls Do What They Want complete with John jumping into the crowd and crowd surfing towards the end of it, and they closed out the night with Growing Up. It was somewhat surprising that an encore didn't follow. It certainly seemed like the type of night where one would.

A great show, and like I said, the most enjoyable one yet. Again the Marquee proved to be a great venue, getting a good view of the band without having to be anywhere near that sea of screaming teenage girls. I can't state how much I appreciate that! And hell, this time we found an industrial fan to stand by, and avoided the typical complaint about a show at The Marquee...the heat!
Now Playing: Jimmy Eat World - Littlething

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