REVIEW: Mayday Parade, Magnolia Park & Real Friends tear up The Crofoot in Pontiac, MI

Mayday Parade’s 11th anniversary tour of their self-titled album is one to attend! To be quite honest. I immediately knew the moment I saw the announcement that this was a show we needed to cover. With special guests Real Friends and Magnolia Park, this lineup was sure to explode with energy and excitement.

Starting the show out was Florida natives, Magnolia Park, and I as expected, they absolutely killed it. They played all their top hits, and the crowd was loving it. They also broke out a cover of Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down Swingin’” and delivered an awesome performance of it.

Real Friends hit the stage next. Cody Muraro brings such a great energy to the stage and has one of those awesome pop-punk voices in the scene. They played some crowd favorites songs including “I’ve Given Up”, “Me First, and “Mess”. To close out their set, they played one of their more recent songs, “From The Outside”, and it was a fantastic ending to their performance.

and finally… Mayday Parade took the stage. By this hour, the entire venue was jam packed with people laughing and eagerly awaiting Mayday. The crowd was thick. Finally the arrival of Mayday Parade! Derek Sanders enters the stage and muttered the words to “Oh Well, Oh Well” and the venue went CRAZY. They were all wearing tailored suits and the stage was set up Victorian era theme; colorful pained windows and candle lights lit the stage to create the backdrop. It was a super unique way to set the mood and the music complimented it well. They went on to play some all time favorites – “Stay”, “You’re Dead Wrong”, and “When You See My Friends”. A Mayday Parade show would not be a Mayday Parade show without “Miserable At Best” being played and their finale song, “Jamie All Over”.

The band even set the mood, arranging the stage with dramatic candelabras, whirling lights and came dressed to impress in their finest green suits. Once the album portion of the set completed, everyone reappeared for part two and the band pulled out new music mixed in with the old. Singer Derek Sanders expressed the group’s pride in their most recent album- a callback to their signature sweeping sound. The party eventually ended, but not before Mayday got the room to scream the words to “Jersey” and “Jamie All Over”- the perfect ending to our trip down memory lane.