Celebrating the ten year anniversary of their hit debut, A Lesson In Romantics, Florida pop-punk rockers Mayday Parade are still going proud and strong. Huge sounds, a mess of flailing hair and a torrent of crowd chanting are all in stock tonight and brought a sold out Concorde 2 to its knees.

Opening tonight are Australian four-piece, With Confidence. Despite being relative newcomers to the rock’n’roll scene, With Confidence are certainly making some very big waves, their sound is big, well structured and captures the new wave summer rock’n’roll at its best. It is clear that many are here for the boy’s set as it is their debut in Brighton and a great portion of the room can be seen chanting the lyrics back to vocalist/bassist, Jayden Seeley, who is eager to get the entire room buzzing. With Confidence made for a fantastic opening to tonight’s set and are definitely a name to give a second look if you’re after a fresh band who will surely be making a return to Brighton in the future.

Mayday Parade soon enter and a sheer roar of eager screams and excitability is unleashed. The band seem almost blown away by the greeting themselves as they open with ‘Jamie All Over’, the lead track from A Lesson In Romantics. Vocalist, Derek Sanders, quickly announces how humbled and excited the band are to be touring for the record’s decade birthday, it is unquestionably clear just how much this record means to the crowd as they can be seen thrusting their arms in the air and shouting every word back at Derek. The band are all ecstatic in their movements and it seems as though all are having a great time playing the hard hitting summery riffs that so many have come to love and cherish. All can be seen headbanging and bouncing across the stage, frequently jumping up onto the monitors in such a way that the stage becomes a blurring motion of great energetics.

The set consists of a full play through of A Lesson In Romantics and, despite the band having a multitude of material to choose from, I can see no complaints in the choice of songs. The set still holds a nice level of diversity and varied pacing as the sombre, yet infectious, ‘Miserable At Best’ makes for an emotional throwback and is certainly a track which sees more than a few wet eyes. Meanwhile, ‘Ocean and Atlantic’ upholds a colossal sing-along chorus which you can’t not sing along to!

Likewise, the instrumental work is all fantastic. The piercing guitars shred through the room and make each track contain an electric energy which never fails to hit the spot, whilst the drumming from Jake Bundrick is exquisite, providing the kick and pulse behind every song’s enormity. A much demanded encore of ‘Kids In Love’ from the band’s second record, Anywhere But Here, makes for a solid ending to the set and is a track which couldn't really be missed out. The crowd can barely contain themselves and throw themselves into one another in a great final flourish of cheers, chants and community.

Mayday Parade put on a fantastic show which, no matter your musical preference, you will not come away from feeling underwhelmed. The band may have been going for well over ten years, but they still know how to bring a tightly packed, upbeat and most of all, remarkably fun set. It is brilliant to see a band who are still immensely proud of their first record to such an extent that they are willing to play its entirety to a sold out room, despite progressing so far since then. I for one can’t wait for the Anywhere But Here decade anniversary as I’m sure Mayday Parade will be sure to up their game to an otherworldly level.

Ben Walker

Website: maydayparade.com
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