The Maine at Nokia Theatre

November 24– The Maine were one of the handful of bands featured on the OP Love Drunk Tour, headlined by Boys Like Girls. Although they were only openers, the reaction of the crowd made it seem as though these boys from Tempe, Arizona were the headliners of the tour.

The Maine’s pop-rock is a perfect blend of musicianship, attitude, and catchiness– fusing mellow guitar rifts with memorable lyrics is something The Maine does very well, and their talent has undoubtably made them popular. Their live performance, however, showed off even more of that talent.

Though their set was somewhat short, they made sure to include some of their best hits, like “Girls Do What They Want,” “Everything I Ask For,” and the cover of Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” With each song played, the young audience became more infatuated with The Maine’s frontman, John O’Callaghan. The vocalist’s deep tone is a departure from the usual high-pitched vocals that are synonymous with the pop-punk genre, and his stage presence was almost domineering and intimidating– combining those two qualities made the many teenaged girls in attendance stir-crazy.

The band’s set was really impressive, especially when one notices the interactivity of the band. They seemed really happy to be able to share their music with fans for even just thirty minutes. Musically speaking, the band did a great job live, showing that they are not just a “CD recording only” band.

The Maine’s performance was a really well-done set, and I will say that they are deserving of their new-found success. In case you missed it, check out my interview with The Maine’s guitarist Kennedy Brock here!

Side Note: Sorry for the lack of pictures of the other members of the band besides John and drummer Pat Kirch! The photo pit was insane, so I wasn’t able to get that many photos of the rest of The Maine, and the few that I did obtain weren’t of spectacular quality. My apologies, guys!