I made a quick seven minute video on YouTube about my two day/night experience with seeing and meeting The Maine. Check it out, let me know what you think!
Tag: the maine band
Us For Once Magazine Issue 3
Issue 3 of the Us For Once Magazine has been published and I have 2 articles in it!
I have an interview piece with the band Silica (page 8) and an article on The Maine’s new era (page 20).
*Some typos will appear from when it got edited.
January Music Picks
I am late on this but I still wanted to share my top music picks from January!
This last month has been a definite roller coaster for me. Going back to school after almost a long month break was for sure something I had not been looking forward to. But thanks to a change in life goals, the term has been not so bad. Of course, I would like to thank music, especially some particular tracks, that have been there for me during this January ride. So let’s get right to it!
Many of us have crushes, duh, and when we tend to have these crushes, we say to ourselves that we would do so much to be with that peson. I am not saying that I had a crush on someone this last month (or did I?), but this specific song is catchy and gives me the feelings of wanting to be there for someone. “I’ll Always Be Around” by Waterparks is the song I am talking about. Whenever I hear this song – it has been on repeat for most of the month – all I can think about is that feeling where you’re ready to be with a person. It’s exciting!
January 16th was an amazing day for The Maine fans (me being one of them). Their newest single “Numb Without You” was released that day and oh boy is it something! One of my favorite parts of the song is when John expresses, “You’re every fucking thing inside me now.” This person he sings about is very important to him. They make them feel alive and whole. The song in general has strong emotions and lyrics that a listener could relate to. It shows that being without someone who has impacted you can make you feel empty inside. Also this track has a different sound to their previous work, but fans still love it, and so do I.
There is a song that I absolutely love playing in the car so that I can dance to in my seat. It’s fun, it’s catchy, it’s entertaining. “TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME” by The 1975 is this song. I try not to get into the lyrics to this song too much, I mainly just want to sing along and dance. That’s it, that simple. Moving on.
The last song I will mention is “Freakin’ Me Out” by The Ready Set. A song from five years ago and when I listen to it, it is as if it just came out. I’m excited about it and all I want to do is sing at the top of my lungs. What this song does to me when I listen to it every time is remind me of one of the first Warped Tours I attended. The Ready Set’s album The Bad & The Better had come out right before Warped Tour and he was going to play some of the songs from this album. Now I do not quite remember whether or not this song was played, but it was from that era, so good memories definitely come from this song. It is a nice way to just sit there (and move around a bit) and remember the good old days of Vans Warped Tour.
Check out the playlist below from my Spotify with the above songs and other songs I have been enjoying this past month. Leave a comment if you wish with songs you have been listening to on repeat lately. Enjoy!
My 2018 Meet & Greets
2018 was a pretty good year for me meeting some of my favorite bands. I went to a total of five meet and greets this year and I am so thankful for the opportunities. I had met all of them except for one band in full in previous years and I can tell you that it never gets old. Meeting your music idols feels like a dream every time. My mom always says to me when I mention a meet and greet I want to go to, “But you’ve already met them, you don’t need to meet them again.” She somewhat has a point. Although I have met some bands before, each time is a different experience. For example – I will be very honest – the first couple of times I met Sleeping With Sirens I was not a huge fan of Kellin Quinn because of how he was acting. Then the last I met them (you can read below) he was so fun!
If you have never gone to a meet and greet before, maybe because you do not know what it is like or because you are nervous (I get nervous every time), keep reading and maybe I can encourage you to meet your favorite artists.
February 10, 2018 – Sleeping With Sirens
I am in the front seat and my mom is driving in front of Spokane’s Knitting Factory. We see a tour bus and suddenly, Kellin Quinn walks out towards us and very quickly my mom says hi and he responded! They chat for about 15 seconds and my jaw drops. “Wow,” I begin to say, “what a friendly guy!” That got me even more excited for the actual meet and greet. At the time of the meet and greet, Kellin performed “Roger Rabbit” acoustic. Then it came time for the actual meeting. It was my turn. I walked in front of them all and said, “I danced for 14 years and I would love it if we posed as if we were dancers, like ballerinas.” And that is what we did. Well, except for Kellin who decided to stick out his middle finger, so I put a black heart in front of it as an edit. (Justin was not feeling well, so he did not pose.)
March 7, 2018 – Pvris
Let me start off by just saying that I do not like this picture. Worst “pose” I have ever done. What was I thinking? My photo with Demi Lovato was way better than this one. Anyways, even though I do not like this one, I still appreciate it. This was my second time meeting the band (third time meeting Lynn Gunn). It was still a great experience, though. I was just a bit sad, however, because Lynn was on vocal rest, so I did not get to really talk to her. Great experience, weird picture.
April 8, 2018 – Echosmith
One of my very first posts on here was about this meet and greet/concert that you can read about here. This one was way fun! Noah Sierota said he recognized me, maybe because I have met the band before a couple times. Funny story real quick, the first time I met the band was the day after Warped Tour at hotel and I was in my pajamas! Wow. Echosmith I would say is by far one of the sweeetest bands I have met, and I have met quite of few, not to brag. This meet and greet was definitely one of my most favorite.
July 1, 2018 – The Maine
This was an unforgettable day. I have been a fan of The Maine for about nine years now and I had never met the band in full until this last year. These guys are so kind and funny! I met the band in the Vans Warped Tour line waiting for the gates to open. This time I dragged my mom to it so she even got to meet a few of the members. She had a great conversation about Brazil with one of them for I was wearing a Brazil hat and she was wearing a Brazil shirt since that summer the World Cup was happening. It was pretty amusing, but Kennedy seemed to enjoy it, too. Then we were finally inside. I had told myself that this time was the time that I finally meet the whole band. And it happened! I waited in line for about an hour to meet them, I was even one of the first 10 people in line. It was so worth the wait!
September 25, 2018 – Never Shout Never
My all time favorite band/person. It was only Christofer Drew who I met that day, but it was okay since I had met the band before. The meet and greet was free if you had a copy of your confirmation email for one of the two poetry books he has published. I will not get too into this one because I still get emotional since the band came to an end (you can read about it here). I got Chris to write my favorite lyrics down, “peace will find us with harmony,” and I will later get it tattooed somewhere on my body. A day I will never forget, it was amazing.
I do not nor will I ever take any of these meet and greets, even older ones, for granted. Meeting your favorites is like a dream come true and every time, even after meeting them three, four times it never gets old and it is so special. If you have wanted to attend a meet and greet but was nervous about it, I hope that sharing my experiences has helped you in enouraging you to attend at least one. If you have any questions and/or want to share your meet and greet experiences, please feel free to post it in the comments. I hope you get to meet your idols!
8123 Fest
The Maine has announced their annual 8123 Fest that will take place in January for three days! The lineup will be bigger than ever before. Today is also the 10th anniversary of their album “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop.” Therefore, they will perform the album in full for the first and last time. You can get more information here.
What is The Maine Up To?
If you haven’t been looking through The Maine’s Instagram, you may have missed something that is probably very important. For the past four days, they have been posting one picture each day with a single item in the middle with a white background. The first picture was captioned “The countdown begins.” But, what countdown? Could this mean new music? The latest countdown picture is captioned “3 days…” so I guess we will have to wait a little bit longer. Three days isn’t too bad, but when it comes to the fans, it’s the longest three days ever. Can’t wait to see what they’ve been up to!
Check out The Maine’s Instagram page here and be in the loop with what is going on with them. And don’t forget to catch them at the Vans Warped Tour this summer!
