Review: The Maine

In advance of their sixth studio album (Lovely, Little, Lonely out April 7, 2017 on 8123), The Maine set out on the "Lovely, Little, Lonely World Tour" and the band stopped by Portland's Wonder Ballroom on April 4, days before the release of the album. Out of all the tours, albums, and eras, these guys have never looked or sounded better than they do for Lovely, Little, Lonely.

The stage setup was beautiful, and perhaps is the most intricate and flashy stage the band has had. Behind them was a large red banner with the band name and outline of a rose, LED trees were placed at each corner, scattered across the floor of the stage were multicolored faux roses, these roses were also stitched together and draped over the front of the elevated drum set, and the band's lead vocalist (John O'Callaghan) performed in a floral suit.

What I associate The Maine with the most is their loyal fanbase, their devotion and gratitude to their fans, and the best audience interaction I have seen at a show. Typically, bands will interact with the audience as a whole and ask them to sing along and repeat after them; however, The Maine's lead vocalist John O'Callaghan takes this to a different level. John interacts with individual groups and people in the audience: asking the crowd to quiet down while he asks individual people to sing along, acknowledging and carrying out onstage conversations with audience members, and even inviting a single person to join him onstage. During the band's performance of "Girls Do What They Want," John asked a fan named Mason if he could join him onstage to finish the song. John asked Mason to repeat and sing the chorus after him, and even gave Mason the microphone to continue singing while John jumped and danced around on stage.

For the shows before the release of Lovely, Little, Lonely, the band created a well balanced setlist spanning their entire discography. The Maine opened with their single "black butterflies & déjà vu", and performed other songs that have been missing from setlists such as: "(un)lost", "we all roll along", and "the way we talk".

As they always do, to close the night the band met with fans outside The Wonder Ballroom for a free, intimate, meet and greet. Each band member had prolonged conversations with every fan that came up to them, thanked them for coming out to the show, took pictures, and signed any merch they had brought. Especially with the growing popularity of VIP tickets and paid meet and greets, this is a rarity for bands and is one of the endless reasons The Maine is something special.

Find more dates and tickets for The Maine's Lovely, Little, Lonely World Tour on their website.

Review: Colony House

Off the release of their sophomore album, Only the Lonely, Colony House is on a headlining tour in support of the album. Not knowing what to expect, I was left breathless after their show at Portland's Doug Fir Lounge.

The Doug Fir Lounge is one of my favorite venues in Portland. The concert venue is located in the basement of a restaurant/bar, and is complete with a full bar in the back which overlooks the stage. With a capacity of roughly 300, this beautiful venue creates an intimate setting, complimentary and perfect for the shows they host. Colony House was no exception.

Visually, the show was stunning. The band was surrounded and silhouetted by lights, and behind them stood a large LED screen that took up the entire stage. Notable examples of images displayed on the screen were the final scene from the movie “Hook”, a 3 minute and 20 second countdown for their song “3:20,” and a picture of a hawk.

What was most impressive was the actual performance given by Colony House. The band is fronted by two brothers, Caleb and Will Chapman (Vocals/Guitar, and Drums), who have a powerful connection that is obvious onstage; however, the entire band has incredible chemistry with each other. Near the end of the set, Caleb takes an acoustic guitar for a solo performance of "Moving Forward." Before starting the song, he discusses the song's origin story and comments on the music he and Will have been making together all their lives.  The song originated as a 10 second voice memo that Will pushed Caleb to write overnight. During the show Caleb notes, "If it's alright with you, I'm going to play this song for you how I originally played it that day for the guys." Near the end of the song, Will joins in on drums, while the other two members (Scott and Parke) join Caleb and share a microphone to sing the final notes of the song.

Colony House, and the "Only The Lonely" Tour is a must see. See dates and get tickets from their website, here.

Shots from the show:

Review: Panic! At the Disco

Panic! At the Disco is on tour celebrating the release of 2016's album Death of a Bachelor and delivered an incredible live performance in Portland, Oregon. Before their show at Portland's Moda Center, frontman Brenden Urie tweeted he woke up with a fever of 103 but had no plans to cancel the show. Even with a fever, Brenden Urie's voice and vocal range is unwavering.

Gotta temp of 103. No voice. Still gonna have fun on stage tonight. Fuck a cancellation. Let's do this, Portland. 🤘🏼

— Brendon Urie (@brendonurie) March 23, 2017

Missing from the band's previous 2016 Summer tour with Weezer and Andrew McMahon was the visual spectacle that was added to this tour. The stage set up was complete with giant monitors fixed to the stage behind the band, overhanging and moving monitors above them, confetti, pyrotechnics, lights, and of course the spectacle pictured below. Partway through the concert Brendon left the stage while the audience was transfixed by a prerecorded video displayed on the monitors, and reappeared in the center of the stadium to perform a piano based "This Is Gospel." Brendon softly sang and played the song, as the piano slowly ascended higher and confetti fell around him. After his solo ballad, Brendon walked through the crowd singing "Death of A Bachelor" as he made his way back to the stage to join the rest of Panic! At the Disco.

Of course, Brendon Urie's stage presence was more impressive than every aspect of the visuals. Panic! At the Disco sounded better than ever, and put on an incredible show and performance. What was most impressive was Brendon's ability to perform the show through his fever, without staggering once. There were times when Brendon would give monologues inbetween songs, most notably after the band's performance of "Girls/Girls/Boys." During, images of Ellen DeGeneres, Anderson Cooper, Ru Paul and Lady Gaga were displayed behind the band as fans placed cutouts of paper hearts over their phones to create a rainbow in the audience. After the song, Brendon paused to talk about equality, love between all genders, anti-discrimination and resistance, and to show support for the LGBTQ community. During that speech, and his others, you could hear the hoarseness of Brendon's voice and he would comment on his voice cracks and how gone it is. Though, nothing could stop Brendon and his night in the city of roses. From the start Brendon stole the show: gyrating his hips during "Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time", his signature backflip during "Miss Jackson", jumping on the drum kit for a cover of "24K Magic" and "Bitch Better Have My Money", dancing nonstop throughout the show, and so much more.

It was a night Portland will never forget. As I was walking through the city the next day wearing the shirt I had purchased at the show, I was stopped constantly by different people commenting on my shirt and discussing the show. Panic! At the Disco has been creating and performing music for 13 years, catering to new and old fans with each release. Panic! At the Disco looks and sounds better than they ever have, and their legacy will continue to live on for many more years after this.

Shots From the Show: Panic! At the Disco

Shots From The Show: Misterwives