If you were looking for concert to rock out to on February 16th, Mayday Parade’s 11th anniversary tour of their self-titled album was the place to be. I immediately knew the moment I saw the announcement that this was a show I needed to be at. With special guests Real Friends and Magnolia Park, this lineup was sure to go off. To top it off, the Dallas show was sold out, so we had quite the night ahead of us.

Starting out the show was Florida natives, Magnolia Park, and as expected, they absolutely crushed it. I first heard of them late last year and was able to catch them at Unsilent Night in December. I knew I needed to see them again. They played all their top hits, and the crowd was loving it. They also broke out a cover of Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down Swingin’” and delivered an awesome performance of it. My favorite song of their set had to be “Sick of it All” which was their closer. Josh, their lead vocalist, was jumping all over the stage giving me some great action shots. Loved everything about it.

Next up was Real Friends, a band that I hadn’t seen live in almost 4 years. At that time, I was just getting started taking photos, so it was nice to catch them on this tour. I have been a fan of this band since probably 2015 and since then, they have continued to rock it. Cody Muraro brings such a great energy to the stage and has one of those awesome pop-punk voices in the scene. They played some of my favorite songs including “I’ve Given Up”, “Me First, and “Mess”. I forgot how much I really enjoyed listening to them after seeing them that night. Being up close and in the action really brought back some great moments! To close out their set, they played one of their more recent songs, “From The Outside”, and it was a fantastic ending to a great set.

And lastly, we had Mayday Parade which was just about to take the stage. At this point the entire venue was jam packed and it was almost a chore to make it through the crowd. It’ always a treat getting to see this iconic band that we all grew up listening to, so I get why this show sold out. They came out and Derek Sanders started singing the words to “Oh Well, Oh Well” and the crowd went wild. They were all wearing black suits and the stage was set up with almost a Victorian themed setup with colorful pained windows and soft candle lights to create the backdrop. It was a super unique way to set the stage and the music complimented it well. They went on to play some of my all-time favorite songs from their self-titled like “Stay”, “You’re Dead Wrong”, and “When You See My Friends”. And of course, it’s not a Mayday Parade show without “Miserable At Best” and their finale song, “Jamie All Over”, so we were lucky enough to get those ones too.

Overall, I can’t wait to see these bands again because they are all crushing it.  It was a 10/10 show, and you'd be best served to see this one live when they roll through your town!