The Maine and Mayday Parade Headline Deep into the Heart of Texas Festival

After a long night of performances by Modern Chemistry, Driver Friendly, frnkiero and the cellebration and Cartel, pop-rockers The Maine took the stage and reenergized the crowd with their new song “Miles Away” from their upcoming album “American Candy.” Lead singer John O’Callaghan joked in between songs that the new album would “win all the awards– all the Grammys” before performing a brand new song “My Hair.”

Kennedy Brock – The Maine

Also included in the setlist was a longer, rockier version of “Growing Up” from their sophomore album, as well as a decent mix of songs from each of their four albums. By far the most popular songs were an acoustic version of “Into Her Arms” from their first album “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop,” as well as “Like We Did (Windows Down)” from their first independent album “Pioneer” and “Right Girl,” their final song of the night.

John O’Callaghan – The Maine

This was the last stop on the band’s short “Tour de Texas,” as they called it, before dropping their new album “American Candy” on March 31st and beginning a new US tour starting April 3. You can find all of the stops here.

Just short of 11 p.m. that night, Mayday Parade closed the festival, starting off their set with “Jersey” from their first album “A Lesson in Romantics.” Their setlist surprisingly comprised of several songs from that album as well as their first EP “Tales Told by Dead Friends” including “Jamie All Over” which had the crowd nearly screaming the lyrics back at the Florida natives.

Derek Sanders – Mayday Parade

Halfway through the show, lead singer Derek Sanders brought a keyboard on stage to play their well-known ballads “Miserable at Best” and “Stay.” Both performances left me with chills as the crowd sang as loud as, if not louder than, Sanders and drummer Jake Bundrick.

Derek Sanders – Mayday Parade

The band announced that they will begin writing and recording their fifth album this month before making their way back to Texas “very soon” before finishing their set with more crowd favorites such as “Hold Onto Me,” “Oh Well, Oh Well” and “When You See My Friends.” Finally, after one of the loudest cheers of “one more song” from a smaller crowd, they finished their set with “I’d Hate to be You When People Find Out What This Song is About.”

By Sarah Hoffman