According to the festival founders (the maine and mayday parade), this fest was created to fill the void that was left behind when warped tour was discontinued. This year marks it’s 5 year anniversary and it seems to be picking up steam as the years go by. Im thankful that I was able to attend this year as the sacramento date was the first stop on the tour, which reminded me of warped tour days because Portland was sometimes the first stop on the tour as well.
So, when I heard that mayday parade was headlining I bought tickets to fast. There’s nothing like a full 1.5hr set of some of your favorite songs played live. The rest of the lineup looked stacked too (the maine, the summer set, the wonder years, knuckle puck, among others). Unfortunately it was too dang hot and I had work that day so I didn’t end up getting to the fest until like 8pm (it was still 107 by the time we got there!), just in time to watch both the maine and mayday. For me, it was definitely still worth the money!
The event took place at a brand new music venue called the backyard. I heard it was literally just built and this was its first ever event. Overall I liked the location – right by cal expo and the mall, behind this brand new nice looking restaurant called rock and brews. It was your typical black-top area with a grassy hill area for the VIP. I’ll be excited to attend more events at this venue.
So we pull up at about 8pm, pregame and take some pics (thanks nemo for the pics lol). My fit was fitting to I had to get some shots before I sweated everything away lol. The parking lot was a 10-15min walk from the fest entrance, so they had golf carts waiting for ppl to take them to the gates which I thot was super nice especially considering the heat (peep the vids for our golf cart ride lol).
We get to the fest and the set-up is so cute. Lots of black and pink, blow-up teddy bears, merch tents and the awesome stage build near the back. The miscellaneous tents were definitely giving warped tour – one tent was offering sign-ups for bone marrow donations and giving away free things like ear plugs, condoms and fentanyl drug testing kits. People were cool and the vibe was mellow prolly because everyone was so hot and tired. Shit I was hot af chugging water and I had just gotten there! I spoke to a couple people that were there during the hottest part of the day. A bartender told me she thinks she got heatstroke lol. Luckily, I didn’t hear of anyone passing out or needing medical attention, and the staff/musicians were on guard looking out for people and passing out free water bottles. There was also a large canopy to provide shade and seating, along with big barrels of water to fill your bottles and a water misting area. We were also aloud to bring in our own misters and fans, so overall the heat was manageable and everyone stayed safe.
Nemo went to rock and brews to play bar games while I watched the maine and mayday. Both sets were super duper good. I grew up on this music so it was like seeing a childhood friend who you don’t keep the best contact with but when yall meet up, its like you just saw each other yesterday and the connection is still strong. Both sets incorporated flowers into their stage set-ups - the maine had a large row of red and pink roses (I think) while mayday parade was loaded with super huge, standing sunflowers as well as sunflowers on the piano, which was super cool cause I LOVE SUNFLOWERS :D. It really was beautiful to look at. Also, once it was dark, you could see the beautiful crescent moon right behind the stage. It was very picturesque (peep the pics to see for yourself).
I don’t keep up with the maine’s music as much as mayday since their sounds have changed and morphed since I started listening to them back in 2006. They did just release a new song which they played and it sounded pretty good so ill have to have a listening party for them here soon. With mayday, I knew just about every danm word lol. Their set was awesome. I loved the throw back to tales told by dead friends. I never thought id hear ‘the last something that meant anything’ or ‘one man drinking games’ live because those songs are so old. But wow was it nice to hear them live so many years later. They also played a brand new track that was literally just released that day, so it was cool to see them go deep into their catalogue as well as keep things current with their setlist.
The lead singer, Derek, had mentioned that he recently went through a divorce and listened to drinking games for the first time in years. Apparently the song brought out a bunch of emotions and he broke down. He said that that song has never had that affect on him before. I thought it was interesting how your own music doesn’t really illicit the same feelings and someone else’s music, kinda like when you scratch your own back vs someone else doing it. But I guess it can have this affect on you when you remove yourself from your music with the passage of time. My husband said that made sense, cause you basically were a different person when you first wrote the song, so it would feel like your listening to someone else’s track. I thought the whole thing was super sweet and was just thankful that these musicians choose to be vulnerable for their own sake and to provide inspiration and relatability to their listeners.
There was a lot of good messaging throughout the sets, like pushing the bullshit to the side so we can enjoy this music, coming together over common ground, and fuck George bush for making it so hot (said by the maine lol). The bands brought the good vibes and I was so here for it. Also, at one point, mayday brought out the grand piano which they usually do for ‘miserable at best’ but then they played STAY which I’ve also never heard live, so that was a really nice surprise and it sounded so good. While waiting for their set, I was chatting with this dude who said he’d never seen mayday parade live before. I lost track of him when the music started but I hope he had a good time.
Anyway, I feel like im tearing up as I write this because so much has changed since I first started listening to this music. So many gains and losses in my personal life and throughout the world/universe since I first started tuning to this stuff in 6th grade. Im thankful to be able to still enjoy this music and have easy access to go to these shows. Im thankful to be able to feel and hear things and connect with other people. And im thankful to be able to write these blog post and document my experiences!
Thank you for reading. If you have any questions or comments drop them on the homepage or hit me up on instagram @bunnygoestoshows.
