The weekend started for me on Friday afternoon. I made plans with a friend who lives in New Jersey to visit and attend a concert with her at Starland Ballroom. The performers were a solo artist Nick Santino, and two bands, Twin XL, and the headliner, The Maine.
I am just gonna put it out there now and say that I did not listen to The Maine religiously before the concert but now that has changed. Sure, I had heard a few of their songs and liked their music, but I wasn’t head-over-heels in love with their music. I am now.
The Maine’s latest album titled You Are Okay focuses around mental health and growth. With songs like “Flowers On The Grave” which talks about letting go of the past and remembering how much you have changed and overcome to “Slip The Noose” which talks about having someone be there for you during your darkest moments.
Saturday, the day before the concert, my friend and I prepared ourselves. We went to Michael’s and bought plastic yellow flowers and gold glitter paint. The band tweeted about bringing plastic yellow flowers but nothing else. Nobody had leaked the reason why and I am not going to either. I am going to say that the reason why had me tearing up (which happened a lot that night).
We let the flowers dry, she painted her nails, and we went to get food. Burgers and fries for dinner and ice cream from our favorite ice cream parlor for dessert. It was perfect. We came home and watched all of Season 3 of Atypical and went to sleep.
Sunday was the day of the concert and we knew that the perfect way to start this day was by having New Jersey bagels. The crunchy but chewy texture makes it the perfect catalyst for whatever you want to put on it. After breakfast, we relaxed. We knew that we were going to have a long night so it would be in our best interest to not do much all day. Feasting on ‘pickupables’ from Taco Bell for dinner we realized that it was almost time to leave. Quickly gathering our painted flowers we loaded ourselves into her car and headed to the venue.
I do not want to spoil the show for anyone who might be going but I am just going to put it out there that all of the acts are creative geniuses and when it comes to executing a show that is visually entertaining they take the cake. Nick Santino goes on first and is casual, taking requests from the crowd and having a grand old time just relaxing on stage and performing. Twin XL are formal. They are the most formal out of the three acts. The band was visually intriguing as well, having perfectly timed voiceovers as well as a great stage presence.
The Maine was incredible. They know how to perform and they know how to connect with fans. Not only did they know how to connect with the fans but they made it easy for the fans to connect with them. As most performers do at some point during their set, the band made it known that the outside world and problems don’t exist when you are in the venue/listening to their music. I unknowingly let out a sigh of relief and was able to relax even more after hearing this.
Similar to other artists, rather than all of the members leaving the stage for the encore, the lead singer stayed and sang a few songs. Walking through the crowd he went to a small pedestal at the back of the venue with his acoustic guitar and began singing. He sang Wonderwall, All Star, and a few other songs before going back to the main stage.
The show ended and my friend and I decided to wait outside since the band likes to meet fans after the show. Two hours of standing out in the thirty-degree weather later, she had met ⅗ members of the band and was content. Overall the concert was amazing and the entire weekend was better than I could have ever dreamed of (minus it being so darn cold).