If you aren’t familiar, Mayday Parade is a popular and well-known pop punk/emo band that has been in the scene for well over a decade. For their 11th Anniversary Self-Titled Album Tour, they’re bringing ‘Emo Church’ to cities across the nation. The church-like stage design and setup is incredibly detailed. The concert itself was definitely a spiritual journey.
Eager fans filled the venue despite the show being held on a Thursday night with extremely early door times (6PM).
The show felt like one big culture shock to me. It was absolutely mind-blowing to see minimal smartphone usage. Even when they were playing their most popular tracks, I saw no more than ten phones out. Everyone in the GA pit were fully present throughout the Emo Church service.
Since moving to the Midwest, it’s been eye-opening to experience the culture here. I think the hospitality and Midwest warmth extended to the show as well.
I’ve been used to seeing mosh pits where people only cared for their enjoyment and disregarded the safety of others. However, halfway into a song, I saw a group of people form a circle with their arms while in a mosh pit to safely help up someone who has fallen. They did this quietly without any disruption to the performance on stage. Not only that but people are so happy to help transport crowd surfers from one end to another. This contrasted sharply from the only time I witnessed a touring artist attempting to crowd surf the Seattle crowd and immediately got dropped. It was incredibly moving to watch Midwest fans create the best environment and support each other.
Perhaps it’s also because Mayday Parade has fostered this environment for their live shows.
The band made sure to check in on how the crowd was doing. At one point, frontman Derek noticed a man in the crowd who needed medical attention and ensured he exited the pit safely. Instead of immediately continuing on the show like many artists do, he told the man, “hope you feel better. I’m so sorry!” Although he didn’t need to apologize, the kind and empathetic gesture showed their genuine care for all their fans and attendees.
On top of that, Derek proceeded to thank not only all of their touring crew but also the local crew at the House of Blues venue. At most shows, the efforts of the local security, stagehands, and backstage crew go unseen and are taken for granted. Derek pointed out that it’s only because of the local crews that they are able to create the shows that they’ve envisioned. The 5+ strong men in the pit and around the side stage kept attendees safe at all times.
I definitely recommend everyone to attend an Emo Church service if possible. It’s clear that Mayday Parade and their team put in a lot of thought and effort in planning and creating this tour. As a result, everyone left 10x happier than when they arrived.
