I think every time I see The Maine (which, recently, has been a lot), I always say the same thing: “these guys get better every single time I see them.” That’s a common phrase that you’ll hear a lot of people throw around when they see a band they like. Sometimes it’s almost like it loses it’s meaning.
With The Maine, they really do get better and better. I remember seeing these guys at a time where they were stiff as boards on stage. They weren’t into it at all back in the day. Hell, I remember a show where John O’Callaghan (vocalist) came out on stage, blank stare in his face, wearing nothing but a bathrobe and cowboy boots. To this day, I still don’t understand stand that (seriously dude, what was going on?)
That stiffness is now gone. Every member moves around on stage with ferocity. They are not the wide-eyed pop-rock teenagers they used to be; The Maine are a ROCK band, for all intents and purposes.
The show kicked off with only one opener, Beach Weather. You may not know the name, but you know the vocalist: Nick Santino. This is Santino’s newest full-band project, an indie-rock offering that sounded very well put together at this show.
On this particular tour, The Maine played their most recent album, American Candy, all the way through, in addition to a number of tracks from their previous records. To my surprise, “Everything I Ask For” was played, and it was a song I severely missed from their sets. It sounds (you guessed it) even better due to the rock edge that’s now present in the band’s songs.
American Candy is their rock album, their triumphant solidifier among the rock scene. Watching it come to life in such a small venue like Bottom of the Hill was a spectacle, one of their most memorable shows in recent years. I thought they kicked ass at Slims back in April, but this performance turned my expectations of them up a notch.
To close: while I would love to see these guys headlining at a venue like The Warfield or The Fox Theater in the future again, The Maine seem to thrive on more intimate venue crowds. Their energy is immeasurable when they take the stage; it’s almost reminiscent of watching a punk band (although the crowd here won’t be as raucous or rowdy as, say, a Black Flag show). They’re superb musicians, and you know what? They’ll continue to get better and better with every show.
This has been another Shameless Promotion.