Apr 6 – Duluth, MN – Grandma’s Sports Garden (w/Motion City Soundtrack, fun, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 7 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues (w/Motion City Soundtrack, fun, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 9 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave (w/Motion City Soundtrack, fun, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 10 – Evansville, IN – Univ of Southern Indiana (w/Motion City Soundtrack, fun, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 12 – Nashville, TN – Rocketown (w/Motion City Soundtrack, fun, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 13 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall (w/Motion City Soundtrack, fun, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 14 – Pontiac, MI – Crofoot Ballroom (w/ A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 15 – Iowa City, IA – Blue MooseTap House (w/Motion City Soundtrack, fun, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 17 – Winona, MN – Winona State University (w/Motion City Soundtrack, fun, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 19 – Asheville, NC – Orange Peel (w/Motion City Soundtrack, fun, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 20 – Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club (w/Motion City Soundtrack, fun, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 21 – Gainesville, FL – The Venue (w/Motion City Soundtrack, fun, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 22 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room (w/Motion City Soundtrack, fun, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 24 – St. Petersburg, FL – State Theatre (w/Motion City Soundtrack, fun, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 25 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues (w/Motion City Soundtrack, fun, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 27 – Raleigh, NC – Lincoln Theatre (w/Motion City Soundtrack, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 28 – Washington, DC – 930 Club (w/Motion City Soundtrack, A Rocket to the Moon)
Apr 30 – Charlotte, NC – Casbah at Tremont Music Hall (w/ A Rocket to the Moon)
May 1 – Columbia, SC – Clemson Road Extension Center (w/ A Rocket to the Moon)
May 4 – Iowa City, IA – The Blue Moose Tap House (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 5 – Des Moines, IA – Peoples Court (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 6 – Urbana, IL – Canopy Club (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 11 – Wichita Falls, TX – The Hanger (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 12 – Lubbock, TX – Jakes (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 13 – Austin, TX – Emo’s Alternative Lounge/Outside (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 14 – McAllen, TX – Smokin’ Aces (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 16 – Mobile, AL – Alabama Music Box (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 18 – Gainesville, FL – Common Grounds (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 19 – Jacksonville Beach, FL – Free Bird Live (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 20 – Charleston, SC – Music Farm (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 21 – Greenville, SC – The Handlebar (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 23 – Greensboro, NC – Greene Street (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 25 – Raleigh, NC – Lincoln Theatre (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 26 – Richmond, VA – The Hat Factory (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 27 – Columbus, OH – Skully’s (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX
May 28 – Lancaster, PA – Chameleon (w/ Mayday Parade) – BUY TIX

After hearing the security bitch and moan about having to check coats in as soon as we enter the venue, I was extremely stoked to get my ticket and photopass and GTF in there. I see a fellow photographer at the front of the coat check, and he informs me that we must pay the 2.25 to have our shit hung up in a sketchy walk in closet. I can already hear There for Tomorrow storming the stage, and I’m thinking “shit, seriously? I have to wait in this long ass line just to have to walk back down it to get to the stage?” Yes, I’m that lazy. Don’t screw around with me and unnecessary distances to be made by foot. Upon paying up and having my heavy coat handled, I happily made my way into the concert hall. And then I thought, “great. I already missed a band for coat check.” As I made my way across the back end right before the barricade restrains the underagers from the legal, I remembered how excited I am to be turning 19. SERENITY AND SCREWDRIVERS NOW! Anyway, a security guard of great stature looks extremely fed up. “The Coat Check is NOT HERE! You guys are not even in the right line! Fuck, you might as well just join the crowd.” Following that bold statement, a rush of adoration YAYs fills the 10 metres in my immediate vicinity. I squeezed my way through avid fans, avid eaters, and avid statue-imitators. For Christ’s sake, you’re at a concert. Expect to be pushed around. Don’t mind a 5’4 girl who’s half your size trying to smoothly pass through, k? As a slew of girls cheer, chant, holler and make extremely sexual sounds as they await the next band’s jump to the stage, A Rocket to the Moon takes the platform. I quickly maneuver my way through the packed house to get to the photo pit, a place where your dreams are made or broken. Yea, I’m talking to you, bass player. Nobody’s ever going to get a good shot of you if you stay in that secluded corner with horrible lighting. The gravity defying fans cause the floor to shake as the band tears up the stage. They played crowd favourites “Annabelle” and “Dakota” and I can assure you, every member of that audience wishes either of those songs were named after them. Their reaction was enough evidence to prove that these boys have a pretty decent following. I think it’s safe to say that without such a strong and positive reaction from the fans, ARTTM would not have put on such a pleasing set. After break, Mayday Parade hit the stage, prompting the faithful to once again take action and go nuts. Derek Sanders piloted the band through tracks from the highly acclaimed A Lesson in Romantics and new songs from their most-recent album Anywhere But Here. Though a fan, I think it’s safe to say that my fellow part-takers enjoyed the old hits a little more than the new.
I might add, the last time I made it out to the Take Action Tour was in March 2008, with a completely different group mentality. Though all were there to have a good time, I wasn’t one of the goers prepared to be thrown into the mosh pit. In case you don’t know, the line-up was much more intimidating and brute. The Human Abstract, The Bled, From First to Last, August Burns Red. Need I say more? Yeah, people rushed the stage while Every Time I Die tore it up. The boy to girl ratio must have been 5:1, whereas tonight’s concert was just the opposite. The tour may be going into a separate direction, but it’s still got a solid following. The most important thing is that proceeds go to a good cause. Take Action, everyone. Don’t be passive. Be Active!

UPDATE:

The recently completed ninth annual Take Action Tour just wrapped up with one last triumphant hurrah in Dallas on March 2, 2010. The tour, whose mission is to create a better world, continues to inspire and make change in a proactive manner.

The Impact of the 2010 Take Action Tour:

• Over $60,000 raised to help further the mission of Patrick Pedraja and his organization Driving For Donors

• Over 30,000 fans in 31 cities proved that the world can be made a better place

• Tour reaches goal enlisting over 2010 fans to sign up for the National Marrow Registry!

• Nearly 8,000 copies of the Take Action Volume 9 compilation sold

Headlining band We The Kings, along with Mayday Parade, A Rocket To The Moon, There For Tomorrow, Stereo Skyline, and Call The Cops united an impressive amount of fans across the U.S. and Canada that cared about more than just attending a great show. The active and engaged audience stood up to make a difference by raising funds, awareness and actual life saving donor volunteers for Driving For Donors (an organization started by now 14-year-old Patrick Pedraja who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 10) whose mission is to sign up people to the National Marrow Registry.

Take Action 2010 raised over $60,000 for Patrick Padraja’s mission through the unique model of donating 10% of each ticket sold to charity, along with other fundraising efforts including donating 5% of the suggested retail price of each Take Action Volume  9 compilation sold.

Hopeless/Sub City would like to thank all the bands and labels involved this year that brought the message directly to fans that each one of us can take action and make the world a better place.

Take Action looks forward to continue to support Patrick Pedraja and Driving For Donors’ mission of saving lives and everyone at Hopeless Records & Sub City Non Profit is grateful for the opportunity to organize this tour to benefit him and be involved in such a great cause in even a small way. Hopeless Records & Sub City Non Profit is hard at work on the next Take Action Tour and will be announcing the next benefiting charity soon. All The latest information can always be found at Takeactiontour.com.

What’s it like being a well-known alternative band out of Tallahassee Florida, that’s also known for it’s college town?
I’ve actually grown up here, it’s amazing and just so many supportive kids.

In 2007, you lost band member Jason Lancaster, how did you feel as a band?
We were a band before he was in the band, so I mean we were okay when he left.

Did you struggle at all after losing a band member?
Well he left in the middle of tour [laughs], so that was really hard but we got back home in Tallahassee and figured out what we needed to do so everything worked out in the end.

The new album, Anywhere But Here was released in October 2009.What inspired you the most while writing this album?
We are on tour 80%-90% of the year, so about 8 months out of the year [laughs] so we wrote while being on tour, and all the songs were based on the feeling of being away from home, relationships, family etc.

How did the fans respond to your new album?
I really didn’t know what to expect because of everything, but I hope that the fans enjoy our album and I’m really looking forward to playing the new songs on Take Action Tour.

You leave Sunday (January 24th) to co-headline Take Action Tour 2010, is there anything else that fans should keep an eye out for?
We are going to be doing Warped Tour 2010 also, and I’m really looking forward to that. I’m not really sure about any other tours that we may be doing right now, but fans should definitely keep an eye out.

You recently have switched from Fearless to Atlantic records, why did you make the switch?
We have always talked to Atlantic, and actually did before we talked to Fearless but they told us to sign to another label first and then they would take us on. We were really excited to sign to Atlantic, and really excited to finally be able to tour in a bus.

That being said, how does it feel to tour in a bus rather than van?
Amazing! Touring on a bus is seriously so much fun, and touring in a van can make things a lot harder. Plus now I can finally sleep! [laughs] but even just sleeping helps with the way we perform and write.

I’m friends with your guitar tech, Nick Froelich, and he mentioned to me you a big fan of reading. Who’s your favorite author?
[Laughs] I wouldn’t say I have a favorite author or anything, but I will say that I love reading a series by Stephen King but I’m a pretty big nerd so I would have to say that I do enjoy the Harry Potter books.

Where are you hoping to see yourself or the band in 5 years?
I would really love to see us not only a band but still touring in a bus, and doing an arena tour would be incredible!

Do you have any advice for inspiring musicians who want to make it in the music industry?
My advice would be to work hard and dedicate yourself 100% to the band, push yourself harder and harder, and never give up. We got where we are now from following Warped Tour in 2006 and handing out our CD’s to people in the lines.

The album is introducted with one of the tracks they recently released on their MySpace, titled “Kids In Love”. The song carries you away with the infectious drum beats, just as the guitar riffs can make you literally dream of two kids falling in love. This is no surprise to Mayday Parade’s former album, but I was ready to hear something that stood out from the rest. Once I had listened to the next track, “Anywhere But Here”, that’s exactly what I got, and it was just the beginning. I felt as if it was very “Ohio Is For Lovers”, but obviously without the screaming, cutting wrists or blacking eyes. Overall, way better.

An intro, in my eyes, is one of the most important parts of a track, and once I approached “The Silence”, I was sold. The song breaks it in with guitar solos worthy of a stint in Guitar Hero (which I may have caught myself air-playing along to). Then kicks in the solid classic vocals of Derek Sanders, deeper than ever. The chorus has taken over, and this is what I call perfection.

Can you feel the transformation? Can you hear the charts calling? I sure can, and they deserve it. Anywhere But Here may just be the most awaited Mayday Parade album yet. It’s been two years since their last album release, and the fans are ready for what’s to come. Though there is already a conflict about the change of style from former Mayday fans, not accepting that it’s still the same old band, they should appreciate the thrilling new twist. I believe that it shows a lot about them as a band, not following what everyone wants or expects, but writing music the way they want it, and that’s what a lot of bands are afraid of nowadays.

Another reason why I love this album is the variety of music you have to choose from. They supported not only the new version of Mayday, but also a bit of the old as well. Throwing in an acoustic called “I Swear This Time I Mean It”, reminding you of their former softer tracks such as “Three Cheers for Five Years”. Though it will never sound the same as before without Jason Lancaster’s vocals, who was a former vocalist and left the band in 2007, shortly after the A Lesson in Romantics album recording was completed. Although Lancaster did a good job, I believe that Sanders sounded incredible on his own in Anywhere But Here.

I can only tell you my open opinion about the new record, but if you can accept Mayday Parade’s new skin also, and an incredible album full of brilliant lyrics, vocals and air guitar sessions, I’d highly suggest getting this record yourself when released in stores on October 6th, 2009.

Overall Rating: 9/10

Mayday Parade is:

Derek Sanders – lead vocals, keyboard
Jeremy Lenzo – bass guitar, vocals
Alex Garcia – lead guitar
Brooks Betts – rhythm guitar
Jake Bundrick – drums, backing vocals

Best Tracks: “The Silence” , “If You Can’t Live Without Me Why Aren’t You Dead?”, “Get Up”, “I Swear This Time I Mean It”.