2019 has been the year of the scene revival- from emo band reunions to old favorites celebrating album milestones. Fresh off the 10 year anniversaries of both A Lesson in Romantics and Anywhere but Here, Mayday Parade’s nostalgia train rolled into Phoenix on Saturday for the Forever Emo Tour. 

After a brief opening set by local DJ duo Daylight Heist, Mayday Parade entered a sold out Crescent Ballroom to deafening screams and bright stage lights. Frontman Derek Sanders is always a bundle of energy and the band was clearly excited to close out 2019 with the Arizona audience. Mayday Parade was all about having fun on this limited run, playing cover set of iconic emo tracks that have become classics over the years. 

For Mayday, that meant putting their spin on bangers like The Starting Line’s “The Best of Me” and New Found Glory’s “My Friends Over You”. Mixed into the massive sing-a-long were Mayday staples like “Kids in Love” and “Oh Well, Oh Well”. Both the band and the fans were having a great time jamming along to songs that inspired a generation.

Mayday dropped even more killer choices into their set, including cuts from Blink-182, Fall Out Boy and The Killers. They closed the regular set with their own “Jamie All Over” and the godfather track of emo- My Chemical Romance’s “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”. Sanders chose to forgo the standard encore procedure and the band immediately launched into “Jersey” to close out both the show and the decade. As they bid their audience and 2019 farewell, they promised even more to come in 2020.

Check out photos from the show!
Story and photos by Olivia Khiel