Fans lined up outside the House of Blues Anaheim in the heart of Downtown Disney on Nov 12 for hours just for a chance at getting front row for this year’s AP Tour.
The magazine Alternative Press, puts on a tour that travels throughout the U.S yearly. This year, the AP Tour line-up included the bands As It is, This Wild Life, Real Friends and Mayday Parade.
The first performance of the night kicked off at 6 p.m. when As It Is took the stage. This five piece pop-punk band was lead by Patty Walters. Walters got his start in the music industry by posting covers of popular punk songs on YouTube.
Playing songs off their latest album, “Never Happy, Ever After,” they got the crowd ready for the next band to take the stage.
This Wild Life is a band that formed in Long Beach as a five piece pop punk band is now known as a two piece tattooed acoustic duo. The bearded Kevin Jordan and Anthony Del Grosso took the stage with their guitars.
Singing songs off their album, Clouded, the crowd sang the lyrics back despite being rather different than the other bands on the bill. This Wild Life played their cover of “Sleepwalking” by Bring Me The Horizon. They released this cover on YouTube over two years ago, which has over 9.5 million views.
In the middle of their set, Jordan talked about how most artist tell people to put their phones away while they’re performing but he wants the crowd to do the opposite. The house lights were turned off and the cell phone light when on and This Wild Life and all of House of Blues joined together in a sing-a-long.
The next band to take the stage was the five piece Illinois pop punk band, Real Friends. First four members of the band took the stage while the crowd showed their excitement by screaming when the final member, Dan Lambton took the stage.
Throughout most of the set, Lambton hid behind his curly locks while the fans in the crown sang along to songs like “I’ve Given up on You,” “Summer,” and “Sixteen.” Bass Player Kyle Fasel interacted and encouraged the fans to sing along to their emotional songs that many fans seem to share a connection with.
Lambton took to the mic and thanked the bands that performed before them and got the crowd pumped up for the next and final band on the set list, Mayday Parade.
The curtains closed and fans could be heard talking about their excited to see the five piece band from Florida. The stage crew finished setting up the led light boards and the large banner behind the drums after what seemed like and eternity for the eager fans.
After 10 years of being a band and five studio albums, Mayday Parade has a lot of crowd favorites that they were sure to include in their set list on that sold-out night.
Lead singer Derek Sanders could be seen bouncing around the stage while his hair seemed to have a mind of its own.
Towards the end of their set, the stage lights went dark and a piano was brought out on stage where Sanders sang some of their slower songs like “Stay” and “Miserable at Best.” During “Miserable at Best,” the entire venue seemed to come alive and sing in perfect harmony back at the lone Sanders tickling the ivory.
For the last song, the other members of the band took the stage for one of their most popular song, “Jersey.” With fists in the air, the crowd took advantage of this last moment to jump around and lose all control.
Overall, the line-up of the AP Tour seemed to be a success and a show that many fans will always remember.
