Monsters Overseas Tour

Mayday Parade, Man Overboard, Decade and Divided By Friday

Manchester Academy 2

January 30th, 2014

First up tonight were Divided By Friday, a pop rock band from North Carolina.

These guys were the perfect starting band for the evening as they had the crowd jumping, clapping and singing along to the point where the whole academy room shook.  Their music had a feel good vibe to it and stand out songs included called 'Relapse' and one called 'Better Off'.

Until tonight I had never heard of this band but after hearing them tonight I will definitely be checking out more of their music. 

Next up were Decade, a home grown band from Bath.  This five piece band had a heavier sound than the first band but still managed  to get the crowd joining in and jumping. 

Playing songs from their debut album 'Good Luck' such as 'Callous' and 'Fools Gold', they showed Manchester what they are made of.  This is another band that I will be checking out again in the future.

Following Decade, were New Jersey pop punk band Man Overboard.  Although I normally like pop punk, these guys did not grab my attention as much as the other bands in their genre or even the other bands on tonight's bill.  

Don't get me wrong they had plenty of energy and some good guitar lines but  they just didn't give me enough to make me want to listen to them again.

Headlining tonight were 'Mayday Parade' a five piece band from Tallahassee, who sound very pop punk with a rock edge to their music.

I first encountered these guys when I saw them support You Me At Six back in March 2012 and thought that they sounded great.

Tonight they sang a range of songs from across their discography such as 'Three Cheers for Five Years', 'Black Cat', 'Stay' and 'Hold On To Me'.

Mid way through the set lead singer Derek, requested permission from the audience to slow things down a bit, before singing 'Miserable At Best', just him and his keyboard.  This is a beautiful but sombre ballad and Derek's powerful voice held the audience throughout the song.

Mayday Parade left the stage to loud applause and cheers for more, before re-taking the stage to sing 'Jersey'.

 
  When I first heard them in 2012 I knew that I would see more of them in the future and in the last two years it seems that these guys have honed the raw talent that was evident back then and have become even better.