Standing at the back of Garage, I watched young girls nervously toddle up to the odd band member who’d come out from back stage to stand at the merchandise stand.
Snapchatting their pictures to what must have been hordes of very jealous friends.
Those pictures included Nick Santino, Lydia and headline act The Maine, all of whom have been travelling Europe and The UK during their 8123 Tour.
The one piece, the three-piece and the five piece all made up the nine strong group of lads that were settling in Glasgow for the night.
Kennedy, the guitarist from The Maine, likes the Scottish city because he “can rely on the fact that it’s going to rain here every time I show up.”
The tour members might be very familiar with the Scottish weather – but they had yet to be introduced to Scotland’s national drink.
As most of Lydia were nursing a hangover they couldn’t stomach the thought of whisky, so I dished out a round of Irn Bru. Justin, obviously with his tender head in mind said:
“It kinda tastes like PDLA, that’s what I use for hangover cure, it’s supposed to be for babies.”
But Matt was obviously hindered and not helped by the orange drink as he almost coughed out “you won’t catch me drinking that.”
But despite the rain, the grey skies and the apparently vile national drink, there was no dull personality or performance in sight.
And unfortunately for the bands, there was no translator either. All of the bands may be from the USA, but they were having a hard time understanding the Scottish accent, a baffled Kennedy from The Maine admitted:
“My problem is whenever we are talking to anyone after the show the guys especially I can’t understand them at all. It’s so hard, I feel silly but I just can’t understand especially with loud music going on.”
And Matt from Lydia readily agreed:
“The accent is hard to hear, there was one point here tonight when one of the guys who was working here was saying something downstairs and he was trying to communicate with the guy upstairs and he was using me as a relay, but I just didn’t have a clue.”
Nick Santino kicked off the evening, his first time in the UK since he was here with his former band A Rocket to The Moon.
“I keep in touch with all of them obviously, I think I miss playing in a band but I don’t really miss being in a band, I don’t know if that sounds wrong. I don’t miss the things that go down in a band, you know like the arguments. I like being the guy in control, I mean I’m used to that but now it’s even more.”
The skinny jeans and denim jacket laden singer impressed with his acoustic sound. In between the girly squawks and screams echoing from the front. With a more calm demeanour than his last band.
He opened the evening with a short set and spent the rest of the evening at the merchandise stand tapping his right foot along to the sound of the other two bands.
Lydia then brought a little bit more energy and presence to the stage. And for a band that seems to change members more than they come to the UK they gelled just as well as The Maine who have been together for years.
But then it was time for The Maine event. And like a good cheese, they had matured with age:
“It’s less consciously trying to change or do something different it’s more just naturally happening because we are listening to different things.”
The now not-so-punk rockers and more old school American rockers played mostly from their new album ‘Forever Halloween’. Obviously they performed a few classics like ‘Inside Of You’ and ‘Right Girl’, just to please the fans whom have been hanging around since the early years.
The band has not only taken on a new sound, but front man Jon has taken on a new persona. He’s become a poetic sort of hero, tweeting cryptic messages and his mid-song shout–outs were no different.
“We don’t know why we are here.”
But the crowd knew exactly why they were there in that moment. They were there to see one of the best old school pop punk bands of all time. One that you can’t help be in love with. They are our Irn to our Bru.
The show was beautifully compact. Starting with one person on stage and ending with all nine singing, dancing and performing their hearts out. There was a curfew and there was no encore. And it was the last time we might see The Maine for a while as Patrick admitted:
“We’re gonna be away for a bit, we’re gonna be working on the record for a bit but then we’ll be back sometime in 2015 with a new record.”
The Maine are like a comfort blanket, something you’ve known since your childhood and is still your guilty pleasure as you grow older. But unlike the blanket you got the day when you were born, they are developing and growing with you. And they’ll be back next year, to prove they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.