Credit: Jared Rigsby (C) 2013
By Marco Castro
Another day, another show at the infamous Newport Music Hall…
This time we had the opportunity to come see Relient K’s Spring Tour 2013 with Hellogoodbye, William Beckett and Mike Mains and the Branches.
The pop-punk veterans teamed up with a great line-up anticipating their new album coming up on July 2nd.
The show started right on time with Mike Mains and The Branches. Their set was short but full of energy! It’s very difficult to open for a show with such a line up, let alone warm up a crowd from scratch, but from song one they were already making the audience sing and clap! Favorite songs like “Noises” and “Miracle” were performed, among a couple of new ones from their upcoming album. Mike jumped off the stage towards the crowd and shared the mic with them – the interaction with the public was epic! They ended their set with “Stereo,” a great hit on the local station RadioU.
We talked to them for a little bit after their set, so please check out the bottom of the page for the brief interview after the concert review.
Because of this we missed William Beckett’s set so we were unable to bring you a commentary on it. However, the general talk among the people was that it was a pretty chill set, and not a “The Academy Is…” show as some people could have expected, but still a pleasing set.
He will get into his band persona later in the night though, while joining Relient K on stage for a song.
Hellogoodbye was an act that I’ve been trying to see live for about 6 years! The problem was that I was stuck on their old album/autotune era, and did not really know anything from their latest effort. I imagine that happens to you from time to time…
With that being said, their set was mainly new songs from their upcoming album and their 2nd album “Would it Kill You?” leaving room for only 2 songs I knew; “Oh, It Is Love” and the last one.
Their show was great though, with the sound-mix as the only complaint; tons of feedback and volume issues. I feel Newport needs a sound system upgrade and just a general remodeling. Great venue but needs more love!
It was the guitar player’s birthday so they all got drinks to cheer and the crowd sang happy birthday to him-a very nice time! They would then close with the classic “Here (In Your Arms)” which got a great live twist!
The main course of the night, Relient K, would take the stage next and opened up with a solid set of well known songs like “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been,” “High of 75” and “Mood Rings,” with an overflow of energy and cheeriness. I’ve actually never seen them in such a great mood! I think the fact that all their families were there to support them was a factor, plus the crowd was singing along non-stop.
They busted out a few new ones from their upcoming album like “Don’t Blink” and “Boomerang”, in which William Beckett came to stage to help on the vocals while spinning the microphone all over.
They played a few acoustic songs, including a rendition do Damien Jurado’s “Ohio”, (performing it for the first time!) and “The One I’m Waiting For.”
“This song is about Katy Perry” said Matt to introduce that song, as the lyrics reveal some of the story between the two of them (they dated at one point…)
The last cover of the night was Third Eye Blind’s “Motorcycle Drive By,” in which Forest Kline, Mike Mains and other members from all bands came to stage to play along.
To close their set they played “Sadie Hawkins Dance” and “Savannah,” but of course people wanted more and they came back and played a few more songs including “Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet” and “Be My Escape.”
Overall a great show, this is pretty much the best Relient K set I’ve seen. Great mix of old, classic, newish and brand new!
Looking forward to the new album 😀
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Interview with Mike Mains & The Branches
We were able to catch up with them and chat about a couple of topics. They are great people and we hope they come back soon
On opening up the tour:
Nathan: “It’s been a blast! Playing these venues with hundreds of kids every night… we feel super honored to be out with these guys!”
Mike: “For all of us it’s been a tour that comes full circle…
We all have been affected by all these guys’ work, so being able to be on a tour opening for bands that have played a role in us and made us want to tour and play music is really cool; and to be encouraged by them in what we are doing is just a really wonderful experience.
And also a shot in the arm of going home to finish recording our new album… not taking “no” for an answer… keep working on it”
About the upcoming album “Calm Down, Everything Is Fine”:
Shanna: “We hope to finish recording the album on June and hopefully we can release in the fall. The pledge went awesome; it was fully funded so we actually get to release it! We can’t thank our fans enough… if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be releasing it.
We are still in awe that we were able to raise the money and we hope you guys like it!
What’s next?
Mike: “Gear up and go back on the road to support the new record. I think we are also really inspired to keep working on Calm Down, and the record that would follow it.
We just like creating and making music… we have people wanting us to move to Nashville or NY, you name it. [But] we just love our little home on a lake in Michigan, we are a family.
We can travel the world, but we always end up sitting on our kitchen drinking coffee and just being a family”
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You can still pledge to their campaign and obtain a great variety of goodies in exchange of your help. Head here for more info: https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/mikemainsmusic
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