Goodbye, Goodnight

As we all know, I love music. mae has been a very influential band in my life, and their album, "The Everglow" will likely always be in my top 5 albums of all time. I was privaleged to have the chance to catch them last night on their "Goodbye, Goodnight" tour. This is their farewell tour, so last night was the last time they played in Rochester. I'm a little disappointed I missed the opening band, Windsor Drive, because we came in at the end of their set and they sounded phenominal. The next band was Terrible Things, which is Fred's (Taking Back Sunday, The Color Fred) new band with former members of Hot Rod Circuit and Coheed & Cambria. They were really good. I liked their sound a lot and they were super tight. After their set I went to their table to buy a shirt, and Fred was actually manning it himself. He is a really personable guy, and he seemed to genuinely want to get to know his fans, which is something that I think is awesome. After that was what we had all been waiting for, mae. They played a lot of songs. The majority of the songs were from "The Everglow," which I was super stoked about. They played some older songs that I had forgotten about, because I haven't had the chance to purchase some of their older stuff that I got rid of when I felt convicted I needed to get rid of all of my illegally downloaded music a few years back, but that's an issue for another post. They played a brand new song off of "(e)vening" which just came out. I think the song was called "Sleep Well." It was incredible. I think possibly the best part of the concert was that mae wanted it to be all about the fans, so if someone shouted out a song, they played it. Dave and Zack even played "Sun" by themselves because the band hadn't rehearsed it for tour but someone wanted to hear it. This show completely changed my perspective of mae as a live band. Last time I saw them was a few years back, with relient k, and they didn't talk to the crowd the whole time, but this time was so different. If I have the chance, I'd really like to see them play another date on this tour. It would totally be worth it. Also, they were selling "(e)vening" at the show last night but I couldn't find it on iTunes today, so i hope they do release it online. I would have bought the disc last night, but my netbook doesn't have a c.d. drive.

With the end of mae is the end of an era. My friends and I all grew up on mae, and it's sad to see them go. I am so glad that they had Rob (Keys) and Mark (Bass) back for this tour. It was really cool that they have their original lineup again. I wish them all the best of luck as they continue their journeys as people and as musicians.

Mitch

Listening To:
"(m)orning" by mae
"The Everglow" by mae