Show Review

I headed into the city to see Mae’s headlining tour at the Blender Theater at Gramercy with several questions accumulating in my mind. It was August 14th, the release of the new and highly anticipated Mae album and I was uneasy. I only hoped Mae could do themselves the kind of justice deserved.

This was guaranteed to be one hell of a show. With a lineup like this tour had, there was no doubt not every act was going to add serious sets to the show. I entered the Blender Theater (a place I was new to) and was pleasantly surprised. It was small and quaint and had an interesting set up. It was a good sized venue for this tour to stop at and I was hoping the acoustics would suffice too (I wasn’t let down).

The first act up was a band I had heard big things about but hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing live yet- Dear and The Headlights. They were definitely a sight and sound of new and unheard of levels. The music was fantastic. It was fresh and had its uniqueness. Songs such as “Paper Bag,” “Run in the Front” and “It’s Gettin’ Easy” stood out to me as instant hits. Besides the horrible and incredibly distracting convulsions that included getting his foot lodged in a folding chair that was meant to be sat in to play piano by Joel Marquard, front man Ian Metzger kept the crowd’s attention with his Shins-esque vocals.

The next band up should never really be reviewed by me…or maybe should ALWAYS be reviewed by me- because I will never say they are bad, because it’s impossible for them to be anything other than sensational. As Tall As Lions is a hard band to come by. Seeing them perform is like being a part of an outer body experience- you don’t know what hit you, but you’d do just about anything to go through it again. They came on stage barefoot and suited up and mesmerized the crowd with their impeccable ways of being so in sync. Songs like “Song For Luna,” “Stab City” and the incredible hit “Love Love Love (Love Love)” took over the crowd. Lead singer Dan Nigro captures you with his voice and fills you with emotions and their music is anything but ordinary. If you’re smart, you’d see this band immediately.

Now for Mae…I was nervous, I was scared. After the performance ATAL just put on and the mixed signals I had heard about the new Mae album, I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that I was a fan of these guys since “Destination: Beautiful” and I had to stick it out- I couldn’t have been happier I did. At first, my nervousness became heavier as I saw the crew load huge white screens on to the stage. They were slightly over bearing and I didn’t understand the point. Who cares about big white screens!? You’re not on The Fray tour any more boys… But once they took the stage, all my speculations disappeared. Mae was back with a vengeance.

They humbly appeared on stage and jumped right into a song off the new album, “Brink of Disaster” which sounded flawless and got me excited. If this is what the new album had to bring to the table, I was so ready for the rest. They continued to play some new songs such as “On Top,” “Rocket,” and a song I highly recommend titled “Just Let Go.” These songs sounded just like old Mae but with some added polish. I loved every minute of it. Granted I would have given anything to hear some more oldies, I fell in love with the new stuff.

The band had a great stage presence. They were laid back and you could tell they were thoroughly enjoying being in New York City on the day of their release. The big white screens definitely weren’t needed because the band had enough charisma to do without them. I probably looked at those screens a total of 3 times. Dave Elkins voice sounded flawless live and the music sound was perfect. The crowd seemed so excited to see them headlining a tour again and I couldn’t help but feel the same way. It was such a great thing watching these guys giving their all still- 6 years into it- and sounding just as amazing as the first album.

review by Christina Reynier