American Candy Tour at Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (23 Apr 2015)

poster The Maine Setlist Miles Away Run Growing Up Inside Of You Misery My Hair My Heroine Same Suit, Different Tie Like We Did (Windows Down) English Girls Into Your Arms (solo) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (The Rolling Stones cover) Love & Drugs American Candy Let's Eat Grandma Right Girl Tour Dates 04/24 HOB in Chicago, IL 04/25 Bottom Lounge in Chicago, IL 04/26 The Crofoot in Pontiac, MI 04/27 Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH 04/28 HOB in Cleveland, OH 04/30 Altar Bar in Pittsburgh, PA 05/01 The Waiting Room in Buffalo, OH 05/02 Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, ON 05/03 The Lost Horizon in Syracuse, NY 05/05 HOB in Boston, MA 05/07 Best Buy Theatre in New York, NY 05/09 Electric Factory in Philadelphia, PA 05/09 FYE (in-store) in Philadelphia, PA 05/10 9:30 Club in Washington, DC 05/12 Cannery Ballroom in Nashville, TN 05/13 The Masquerade in Atlanta, GA 05/14 Freebird Live in Jacksonville Beach, FL 05/15 State Theatre in St. Petersburg, FL 05/16 The Beacham in Orlando, FL 05/16 Park Ave CDs (in-store) in Orlando, FL 05/19 Club Dada in Dallas, TX 05/20 Kapone's in San Antonio, TX Read More The Maine Tempe's The Maine is touring for their fifth album American Candy (8123 Records). The album racked up 15K in sales first week out and made several strong entries into the Billboard Charts. … The Technicolors The evening began with a tight 40 min. set from Phoenix-based The Technicolors, in support of their latest release, Listener (Elevation/Tallest Man Records). The four-piece (Brennan Smiley- singer, Mikey …

The 8123's American Candy Spring 2015 Tour, featuring The Maine, Real Friends, Knuckle Puck and the Technicolors, just came through Minneapolis' Varsity Theater last night, Thursday, April 23rd. With raw energy, emotion, Alt-Press sound, and a youthful, eager audience, the concert program felt very much like a mini-Warped Tour. All the bands had about a brief 30 minute set, with the exception of the Maine, as a headliner, went slightly over an hour without an encore.

The Technicolors

Phoenix rock band The Technicolors started off the event, playing tracks from their latest EP Ultraviolet Disguise (8123 Records), such as "Feels Like Trouble" (dedicated to a fan who gave singer Brennan Smiley a rose), however, I thought the highlight from their set was a Tal Bachman cover "She's So High".

You may remember the band when they were on tour with The Psychedelic Furs for their album Listener (Elevation/Tallest Man Records). They did a couple of tracks from that album, including their set finale "Hollywood", featuring guest Maine guitarist Jared Monaco Kennedy Brock storming the stage to jam out with the group.

Knuckle Puck

Chicago's Knuckle Puck was up next, and surprisingly had a big Minneapolis fanbase. Singer Joe Taylor seemed to enjoy shouting and encouraging their fans to slam dance, mosh, and body surf... which the audience was more than happy to obliged.

They did both their songs ("Gold Rush" and "Fences") from their Split EP from last year, and ended their set with "No Good" from their 2013 EP The Weight That You Buried.

Real Friends

The other Chicago band Real Friends also had a strong Minneapolis fanbase. Right off the bat, the band raved about The Varsity Theater's bathroom (which won America's Best Bathroom 2013 Award), describing it as something from Bilbo Baggins' home.

During "Loose Ends", Knuckle Puck's Joe Taylor showed up to help sing, which tells me that these two Chicago bands are probably close friends.

Real Friends played a few tracks from latest Maybe This Place Is the Same and We're Just Changing, including "Summer". They ended their set with "Late Nights in My Car", taken from their 2013 EP Put Yourself Back Together.

The Maine's Setlist

The biggest draw of the night was, of course, Arizona's The Maine, on tour for their fifth studio album American Candy. Dedicated fans knew all the lyrics and would often sing along to their biggest hits, like "My Heroine" and set closer "Right Girl". Unlike the rowdy Knuckle Puck slam dancing, The Maine's fans were more reserved... but no less just as passionate for their favorite band.

As you can see from the setlist, about half their set were dedicated to American Candy, including the title track, "Miles Away", "My Hair", "Same Suit, Different Tie", and "English Girls". Rounding out the rest of their set were a good mix of Pioneer (2011), Black & White (2010), and Forever Halloween (2013)... but also throwing in a Rolling Stones cover, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction".

During the acoustic solo version of "Into Your Arms", singer John O'Callaghan exclaimed, "I pooped twice", referring to America's Best Bathroom. He also took some questions from the audience, but it sounded like a one-way conversation since no one could hear the questions (hint for future Q&A: repeat the question for the audience's sake).

For the title track, "American Candy", the Maines' lights turned red, white, and blue, which was a nice addition to the song. Also, the band did "Let's Eat Grandma" quick intro before their biggest hit, "Right Girl" (which got confetti blown from above).

If you like one of these bands on the American Candy Spring 2015 Tour, chances are, you'll crossover to the other bands as well.

The Maine at Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (23 April 2015)

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Comments

[Long time fan]

This is incorrect. Jared Monaco did NOT join the Technicolors, that was Kennedy Brock. Maybe you should know the headlining band's members before writing a review

[Long time fan]

it's Let's Eat Grandma, not did some grandma

[W♥M]

Thanks, clearly you are the hardcore fan. I've updated the article.