The Maine are now on the final leg of their The Mirror tour, after starting late last year in the United States, over to Europe and now in the UK for the last 9 dates. It is the first time they have played The Waterfront and the first return to Norwich for the band in 5 years.
Sun Arcana were the first act to hit the stage at 7:10pm sharp. The waterfront venue was only at half capacity and the crowd seemed a little sparse. Sun Arcana reign from Essex and put on an energetic 30 minute set despite the lead singer Tom losing his voice on the second day of the tour. Bassist Jules Wildblood jumped on the mic as "they didn't want to cancel any dates, and still put on a show". You could tell that Jules wasn't entirely comfortable as the front man, but the small Waterfront crowd started to come round to the bands determination by the end of their set.
Stand Atlantic took to the stage next, hailing all the way from Australia. There were a few fans in the room, that were clearly there for the band, as the crowd became more animated. The pop-punk band put on an energetic show, with the bassist and guitarist constantly swapping places, the former being particularly animated jumping up on his podium and spinning around during solos. The highlights of their set were the popular singles Skinny Dipping and the band's closing song Coffee at Midnight.
A 60 second countdown timer started at 9pm to a thunderous applause from The Waterfront crowd, which had now filled out a bit more. A video played as the band took to the stage and they dived straight into their first song Slip the Noose. It was like there was a different crowd in the room, hands were in the air, and you could hear the fans singing every word back to lead singer John O'Callaghan.
The Maine took "crowd participation" to a whole new level. John spent just as much time conversing with the crowd, doing acoustic covers of pop songs, even getting in the crowd to start a dance off, as he did sing. At times it felt more like we were watching a stand up comedy routine than a music concert. John even brought a fan on stage to sing the second part of Un-lost, which he covered acoustically.
The band were smiling the whole way through the set, interacting with each other and enjoying every moment, despite playing to a smaller crowd than usual. The boys on stage focused their set on the more upbeat hits spanning their seven albums, only throwing a couple of more sombre songs in here and there. Highlights included Am I Pretty? and a very energetic performance of Bad Behaviour.
Overall, The Maine brought their A-game for the show, their choice of setlist for the night was perfect to get the crowd going. Paying close attention to their two latest albums, Lovely Little Lonely and You Are OK. All of the attendees at last nights Waterfront gig can also go home proud knowing that getting on the floor and pretending to row during a break in the music was "the weirdest thing" lead singer John "had ever seen at one of our concerts".
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