The Maine at the Nile Theater Last Night

Jonathan McNamara

The Maine.

​The Maine
August 27, 2010
Nile Theater

It was teenage girl heaven at the Nile Theater last night, when local pop rock band The Maine played the last night of their current headlining tour and made a young lady-filled crowd go wild. Singer John O'Callaghan told the crowd the band got to choose their schedule for the tour and decided to end in their home state, and judging by the 800-person sold-out crowd and the long line of kids before the show hoping to somehow score a ticket, it was fitting that the band ended their tour with the most loving audience possible.

It didn't matter that a skinny, shirtless O'Callaghan was barely audible underneath the whopping three guitars, bass and drums. He held out the mike so often, the crowd got to do much of the singing during the set.

He even made one 15-year-old's dream come true, as she got to go on-stage and sing "Girls Do What They Want". It was her birthday, and she did an amazing job singing and getting the crowd hyped up.

Jonathan McNamara

It was a packed house of screaming, teenage girls at The Maine's show at Nile Theater.

​That wasn't the only gift given throughout the night. During the hour-and-a-half long set, several bras and panties were thrown up on-stage. The band returned the favor by showering the audience with water.

Those moments were the best parts of the show. While the melodies sounded fine, you could only understand what O'Callaghan was singing if you had the lyrics memorized--and you can bet most of the audience knew every song word-for-word. Here's hoping the band puts more emphasis on the vocals when The Maine comes back into town Thursday, October 28 at Marquee Theatre with Never Shout Never. O'Callaghan's voice is already raspy even on recordings, but live, it was just weakened by the abundance of instruments. True, the band put on a decent rock show, but the pop part listeners of the albums are used to was lost because O'Callaghan was inaudible.

Not that it mattered much. O'Callaghan took charge of interacting with the crowd in-between songs, offering up advice to stay in school, don't drink and drive and to wear a condom. This is the man who Tweets the most random stuff ever, so there were also plenty of random musings, such as: "There's a pool of sweat in my belly button right now;" and, "Tomorrow morning when you wake up, breathe that fresh Arizona sun, and cherish every moment."

As far as role models go, O'Callaghan had some pretty positive messages. The whole vibe at The Nile was positive, as kids danced, clapped along and sung at the top of their lungs.

"This is the best fucking show I've ever been a part of," O'Callaghan said, emphasizing that just because the band may say that at every show, he really meant it here in Arizona. The night was capped off with a blast of confetti shot out over the crowd, and though they may have hit the big time with a Warner Bros. record deal, it's nice the band still respects its roots.

The Crowd: High schoolers and college kids, plus some parents and older family members of the bands mixed in.

Overheard in the crowd: "Too many of their songs involve counting. I feel like I'm in math class over here."

Random Notebook Dump: Opener Austin Gibbs is one man who can make a mustache look good.

Set List: There were some songs where it was too difficult to make out any of the lyrics, so the following is a sampling of what the band played:

Fuel to the Fire
Girls Do What They Want
I Must Be Dreaming
If I Only Had the Heart
Right Girl
Into Your Arms
Roses (Outkast cover)
Growing Up
The Way We Talk
Should I Stay or Should I Go (The Clash cover)
Don't Stop Now
Everything I Ask For
We'll All Be