Students lined up outside the Smith Student Center Friday night, waiting in the cold for the doors to open for the Mayday Parade concert, part of the University Program Board’s (UBP) annual fall concert.
UPB revealed the artist towards the end of September and tickets for the 18+ show went on sale Sept. 30.
Although the initial fall concert announcement originally received mixed reactions on Twitter, tickets for the show sold out a few days before the show, adding up to 900 people in attendance.
Derek Brewer, a junior advertising major with minors in gender studies and political science, is the Concert and Comedians Director of UPB. Brewer explained the hype around the band and said that students have been excited for them to arrive.
The doors opened at 6:30 p.m. and students lined the outside of the ballroom taking pictures and checking out the merchandise table, waiting for 7:30 p.m. and opener Atlantic Wasteland.
A native band from Pittsburgh, Atlantic Wasteland opened their half hour set with “You Just Might See It,” interacting with the lively crowd as they played.
Adding humor to their set, Sam Quatrini, the lead vocalist for Atlantic Wasteland, opened up the night saying that regardless of how the night went, his mom likes the band.
However, Qautrini had little to worry about as those in attendance excitedly sang and danced to the alternative rock band’s music.
Atlantic Wasteland performed eight songs with their opening set, ending their night with “Pittsburgh” to a fully energized crowd awaiting the arrival of Mayday Parade, the band natively from Tallahassee, Florida.
Coming off their opening for Sad Summer, a festival where they also celebrated their 10th anniversary for a record, and currently on tour for two different shows, Forever Emo and Anywhere but Here, Mayday Parade performed a hybrid of songs for the crowd.
Brewer feels that UPB hit the jackpot with the band for the fall concert, based on the hype surrounding their current tours.
“I think it’s what people are feeling now,” Brewer said. “People have been really stoked on it.”
Mayday Parade opened their set with “When You See My Friends” and those in attendance, including Atlantic Wasteland members in the audience, sang along, jumping to the upbeat music.
Playing a mix of original songs and cover songs, Mayday Parade also energized the crowd with “Anywhere but Here,” “The Anthem” by Good Charlotte and “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers.
A big fan of Mayday Parade, Brewer asked if it would be cheating to say that his favorite song was the band’s cover of “I’m Not Okay” by My Chemical Romance, later adding that his choice would be Jaime All Over.
“You can’t beat Jaime all Over,” Brewer said. “It’s just so good. So good.”
With the fall concert usually being smaller with more club style shows, Brewer said that UPB wanted to bring in more relevance to the fall concert.
“As long as I make one person’s night, I’m happy,” Brewer said.
