Last night I went to a Mayday Parade and We the Kings concert! They're co-headlining a tour so I was really excited to be able to see them both. Something funny about it though is that I went to the concert a bigger Mayday Parade fan and left a bigger We the Kings fan.
We ended up getting the package which got us a meet and greet with We the Kings, a signed poster from them, a VIP t-shirt and a wrist band plus general admission spots (not that that really mattered because it was a small venue so obviously there were no seats). Mayday Parade also had a meet and greet going but I didn't know about it until we got there, not that I was too bothered. I was actually more excited to meet We the Kings.
So we got there at about 2:30. No one really knew when the official concert was going to start, but we knew we had to get there by at least 4:15 for the meet and greet since we'd be let inside earlier. We wandered around for a while to kill time before we finally decided to get in line. We ended up seeing Yoshi, We the Kings' drum tech, which was pretty cool. The line wasn't very long at all but we weren't the first ones there, not that it was surprising. We figured all the people that got there as early as we did were there for the meet and greet as well.
By the time about 4:10 rolled around, a guy came walking around the building saying for all those there for the We the Kings meet and greet to follow him around the side of the building where one of the entrances were. Not many of us followed him and at the time I didn't know there was also a Mayday Parade meet and greet, so I bet the others were there for it. We had to wait near the side of the building for about fifteen minutes. Basically all the band members except for Charles ended up walking right by us to the buses.
We were finally let inside and went downstairs. They said they would check our names off and we were allowed to meet the band members with whoever we bought our tickets with. We were probably the third or fourth ones to go inside. I went in and hugged Coley first, followed by Charles. I kind of stuttered with Charles for some reason because when he hugged me he was like, "Hey, I'm Charles," and I just thought it was funny because in my head I was all, I know! I introduced myself to him too, of course. Then Travis came next and he asked me how I was doing. We hugged and he looked at me and said, "Hey, we have the same nose ring. We must be soul mates!" I don't know how I managed to keep my cool but somehow I did. Then Danny looked at me and held out his arms, "I didn't get a hug from you yet!" So I went to hug him and he told me he loved my hair. I didn't get to hug Hunter but he made up for it at the show.
They were a bunch of great guys. They were so sweet and looked so happy to be there. They signed our posters and then we took a group picture before heading up to the room they'd be playing in. We got to watch Anarbor do their soundcheck since they were one of the bands opening for them. They were a bunch of cool guys, as well. And some members of The Downtown Fiction were chilling in the room with us because they were another one of the opening acts.
We got such good spots since the ones who went to the meet and greets were allowed into the venue an hour before the doors officially opened. We got to rest our arms on the stage. Travis came in at one point and talked to one of the guys working the merchandise and he waved to all of us. Anarbor eventually went on at about 6:30 and played about five or six songs before The Downtown Fiction came and did the same thing. They were both really good live and I might buy some of their songs on iTunes since I know of them but never really listened to them.
In between sets at one point, a girl behind me tapped my shoulder and said someone lost their phone. We tried getting everyone's attention so they could look for it, but I felt something down by my foot. I bent down and picked up a phone and said stupidly, "Is this it?" I'm facepalming now after thinking back on that. She passed it back and we went back to watching everyone set up the stage. Then I heard a guy behind me go, "Who found it?" and I turned back and said I did and he gave me a dollar in thanks.
We the Kings went onstage before Mayday Parade. They played a lot of amazing songs like She Takes Me High, Heaven Can Wait, Skyway Avenue, Say You Like Me, Check Yes Juliet, among others along with a Jimmy Eat World cover, The Middle. I know someone also did a cover of Adele's Someone Like You but for some reason I can't remember if We the Kings did it or not. They were so amazing live! And when I said Hunter made up for not hugging me, he went over to our side and practically stuck his face into the crowd and hovered right above me smiling a few times. You should've seen how many arms reached around me to touch him. I felt like I was being violated half the show because of how close everyone was. Thank God I'm not really claustrophobic.
I was definitely being squished up against the stage though and I have bruises today to prove I was being flattened into a pancake. After their set was over, we decided to move to the back because our legs and chests and arms were killing us. You don't even want to know how scary it was trying to weave through the crowd because once we told everyone we were moving back, they all fought to get our spots.
Mayday Parade went on at about 9:30. They played songs like Priceless, Anywhere But Here, Kids in Love, etc. At one point, Derek mentioned that The Maine was there and said that Pat was in the crowd somewhere, but I never saw any of them.
Everything ended around 10:30 and you wouldn't believe how sore my feet were. I felt like shooting myself when we had to walk three or four blocks to our parking spot. And my ribs are definitely bruised today from being smashed up against the stage, but it was all so worth it. It was an amazing night and I can't wait to see them all live again someday.