Mayday Parade explores relationships at Chicago’s House of Blues

By Jared Callaway, Photojournalist

Fans crowd surfed at the House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St., to get an up-close look at the energetic performance of Mayday Parade.

The theme of the night was relationships — in all forms.

Mayday Parade performed the full album “A Lesson in Romantics” for the March 11 concert. As the title suggests, the album is largely about the course of past relationships. They also performed their hit song “Kids in Love.” The night before, they performed their entire self-titled album, but Mayday Parade switched up their setlist for the second show in Chicago.

Magnolia Park, an opener for Mayday Parade, started off their pop-punk set with the song “Tonight,” a song about a relationship starting to fade, while one member of the relationship longs for it to stay. The second track they performed, “2009,” was a rapidly moving song about going through the struggles of day-to-day life and dealing with depression.

Real Friends, the second opener for Mayday Parade and natives of Tinley Park, performed “Me First” and “Remedy” with similar melancholy themes as Magnolia Park. “Me First” talks about a toxic relationship, while “Remedy” is about slipping into depression.

Mayday Parade’s “11th Anniversary Self-Titled Album Tour” continues nationally and internationally through the summer. Fans can also follow their Instagram and Twitter for future tour updates.