There’s a special electricity that crackles through The Van Buren when The Maine takes over their hometown and Wednesday night was indeed a spark that built into a warm, familiar fire. The I Love You But I Chose The Maine Tour sold out the Phoenix venue and that title has proven true time and time again when it comes to Arizona’s deep affection for their favorite band.
Kicking off an extensive lineup of music was Franklin Jonas & The Byzantines, playing for an already crowded room. The youngest Jonas brother struck out on his own with a folk rock inspired project that featured a hearty banjo twang mixed with driving guitars for a sound all his own. Jonas was determined to make the fans part of the show so he left the stage to run through the room as everyone jumped into action to dance along. The band was building up to their latest single release, treating the early audience to “High and Sad” before their expressions of gratitude closed out a solid opening performance.
Pop punk favorites Grayscale tipped the show further into rock territory as they jumped right into “Through the Landslide” and “Kept Me Alive”. Their set saw the first real movement of the night, with some hopefuls glancing towards the stage in crowd surf contemplation. As it was, the band never let their energy falter during their opening duties, throwing in fan favorite tracks like “Motown” and “Painkiller Weather”. The middle of the set was reminiscent of Ferris Bueller’s iconic parade performance to “Twist and Shout” and the band’s time onstage was punctuated by the joy reflected on the faces of their devoted Arizona fans.
It’s a testament to how many musical friends The Maine has amassed over the years that they added a third opener to the lineup in the form of the delightful Nightly. The trio lit the room with intense pink and purple lighting to accompany “where do we go from here”, “1989” and more. Nightly has been a touring staple through Arizona for years and that dedication has built up their own pocket of diehard fans, all of whom showed out for the group. A common theme from the openers was the appreciation for the night’s headliner and obvious affection shown to The Maine’s hometown fans. Nightly was no exception in their acknowledgement and just like that, it was time for the most anticipated set of the night.
Nearly 20 years of music, friendship and hard work culminated in Wednesday night’s show. The Maine always outdo themselves on each tour and they turned The Van Buren’s stage into a plush landscape of green, punctuated by the couch in the middle that found one band member or another leaned against it as the night went on. It was the second night of a lengthy road trip and John O’Callaghan, Kennedy Brock, Garrett Nickelsen, Jared Monaco and Pat Kirch were ready to remind Phoenix fans why they’ve been their favorite band for nearly two decades.
The opening notes of “Thoughts I Have While Lying in Bed” activated the audience and the now completely packed room threw bodies and souls into the show. The band was all wide smiles and silly jokes, turning the set into a conversation that lasted long into the night (with O’Callaghan jesting that they only had 72 more songs left in the middle of the set). The Maine is also on the verge of releasing their tenth album and all three released tracks were folded into the setlist with ease. Every album was represented along the way, with “Kennedy Curse”, “Right Girl” and “My Heroine” garnering huge reactions from a nostalgic crowd.
In a room teeming with family, friends and longtime fans, The Maine expressed their delight in coming home to such a warm response from a scene that built them up to the successes they continue to have today. As always, the end of the show came as a shock but the whole room summoned its collective energy reserves to lay it all on the line for “Blame” and “Black Butterflies and Déjà Vu”. It seemed as if the whole room joined hands for “Another Night on Mars”, the classic closer that truly encompasses the ethos of the band and sent the exhausted crowd home sleepy and satisfied (even the setlist divas tracking the tour from the barricade).
