The Maine took the stage at The Showbox Nov. 19, selling it out for the first time after having performed there several times in the past. 

Currently, the Maine is on their Sweet Sixteen Tour, celebrating 16 years since they first started making music. The tour is also celebrating the release of their new self-titled album. 

I grew up listening to the Maine, along with several of my friends of the “emo” persuasion, who also grew up with the band’s music. My friend and I went to the show excited to see what they had in store. 

They played a good mix of new and old songs and everyone there was definitely having a good time. 

There was a woman in front of us who was living her best life, dancing her heart out not giving a care who saw—it was glorious. She was not the only one. From our vantage point, people were losing themselves in the music all over the venue. 

Jared Monaco killed the guitar all throughout the show, his energy never faulted, and that carried the show for the entire audience. 

However, as we made our way around the room, we noticed one key flaw in the experience and that was the audio levels on John O’Callaghan’s vocals. The instruments sounded great but whoever was mixing the audio made the vocals way too quiet. I didn’t want to bring this up here, but it progressively got worse throughout the show and put a little bit of a damper on the mood. 

Callaghan made sure throughout the performance that the crowd was involved in the show. Regularly he would sing with fans, ask questions and work to make sure they felt a part of the show and were not just spectators. 

I, for one, am excited to see them open for Fall Out Boy March 1 at Climate Pledge Arena. 

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