Toronto was treated to some American Candy this Labour Day weekend, as The Maine rolled through town. In support of their 5th full length studio album, The Maine are currently on not one but two tours! They alternate between The Free For All Tour, in which they put on free concerts to give back to their fans, and The Maine Presents: American Candy tour, in which they play American Candy to it’s entirety. Toronto’s date fell on an American Candy day, and it was neat to see ’24 Floors’ and ‘Diet Soda Society’ finally make a live debut.
The show was sold out, and even half an hour after doors opened there was still a pretty big line of fans eagerly waiting to go into the venue. By the time I made it in, the MOD Club was pretty much packed to the back and the opener, Beach Weather, still had a good half an hour before their set. It was nice to see that so many fans would turn up early to catch the opener as well. It’s also good to note, that the last time The Maine was in Toronto, they easily sold out the Danforth Music Hall. So it was a treat to see them at the MOD Club, as it helped give the show a more intimate vibe.
During the set, lead vocalist John O’Callaghan, did an impromptu Q&A with the crowd in which he answered questions from random fans and gave his opinion on the weird events that he saw being covered in the Canadian News. Things such as Jerry Bance caught peeing in a coffee mug and the 150 alligators that were confiscated from a Toronto home were some of the topics being discussed. Given the size of the MOD Club, O’Callaghan was able to freely interact with the fans from the stage and it felt as if he was just catching up with some old friends.
After they played most of American Candy, The Maine dove into some old favourites such as ‘Right Girl’ & ‘Inside Of You’. It was also great to see songs such as ‘Everything I Asked For’ and ‘I Must Be Dreaming’, which come off of their debut album Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop, make it back into the rotation.
As the night came to an end, they closed out with ‘Another Night On Mars’, which is the final track from American Candy. It was the perfect way to wrap up the night.
