Yellowcard and Memphis May Fire played at Heaven in The Masquerade on Tuesday, October 28th despite canceling a show less than a week ago. Even though there were two relatively distinct fan bases present, the groups were able to come together to deliver a crowd-surfing show that thoroughly impressed the diverse audience.
Memphis May Fire rocked out throughout their entire set. Although the vocals alternated between screaming and singing, the band played heavy music throughout that encouraged the crowd to fist pump and crowd surf to almost every song.
Memphis May Fire certainly had a loyal fan base as the crowd filled up almost all of the standing room in Heaven. The energetic crowd was able to sing along to almost every lyric and knew all of the ins and outs of the songs played. When singer Matty Mullins took a break from performing, he spoke uplifting words to the crowd and explained the deep meanings behind some of the band’s most popular tunes. Although Memphis May Fire’s music would be classified on the heavier side, the band combines a unique mix of rock music and fan outreach.
Yellowcard kicked off their set with a beautiful violin solo from “Convocation“, which happens to be the opening track of their new album, Lift a Sail. The band then played two more songs off their new album, both of which featured strong vocals. Once the band took break from playing to talk to the crowd, it was announced that lead singer Ryan Key had been diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection less than 5 hours ago. Although he mentioned having to take it easy on the talking, anyone who would have walked in after the announcement would not have had any idea that Key was sick.
Yellowcard alternated between old and new songs, with the greater audience participation clearly coming from their older numbers. Surprisingly, the first older song played – “Only One” – lead to audience involvement in the form of a mosh pit. The group of guys involved in the pushing and shoving brought the activity back during almost every old song the band performed. While the mosh pit raged on, the rest of the crowd sang and danced along and even brought out crowd surfing towards the end of the band’s set.
Yellowcard impressed not only with their music, but with their intense band history. Key announced his current infection and violinist Sean Mackin has been suffering from thyroid cancer for a couple years. As if the band’s sicknesses were not enough, Key’s wife is currently in physical therapy to recover from a ski accident that left her in a wheelchair. The band shared these stories with the crowd to shed light on their inspiration for creating their newest album and playing many of their newer songs on the Yellowcard and Memphis May Fire tour.
Both Yellowcard and Memphis May Fire acknowledged that their fan bases were quite different and that people thought they were crazy to try to tour together. The bands were excited by the success of their tour so far though and Yellowcard even brought out Mullins to sing a song from Yellowcard’s Lift a Sail album. Yellowcard band members thanked the audience continuously for their energy and enthusiasm present during both the old and new songs. The band ended their set with mega-hit “Ocean Avenue” and “California” – a new song written for Key’s wife while she was out of the country recovering from her accident.
Overall, both bands delivered strong sets mixed with old and new music. There were some people who decided to leave between Memphis May Fire and Yellowcard, but, for those who stayed, the bands definitely accomplished their goal of bringing together two distinct and loyal music lovers for a great show.
