Mayday Parade Live 6/1/25 The Strand Ballroom and Theatre, Providence RI | Photos + Review

June 23, 2025 Leave a comment

Mayday Parade marched their Three Cheers for 20 Years tour into Providence, RI on Sunday June 1st, for a night that can only best be described as a victory lap for the pop punk veterans. The band’s set worked double-duty for the evening, playing out as both a nostalgia-fueled anniversary trip and a showcase for their latest LP Sweet. Openers Like Roses, Grayscale and Microwave warmed everyone up for the main event effectively, seamlessly blending shades of emo, pop punk and alternative rock together and fitting perfectly with the headliner’s tone I was particularly impressed by Like Roses’ performance, one which was filled with an earnest vitality, not often seen by a first act on a bill. Yet once a quarter past 9 rolled around and Mayday Parade took the stage, the energy in The Strand Ballroom skyrocketed to new heights. From that moment on, there was rarely a moment where you wouldn’t hear the audience shouting and screaming back every lyric to Derek Sanders and Co., through the uplifting opener of “By The Way”, the heartstring-pulling fan-favorite ballad “Miserable at Best”, the surprisingly furious emo anthem “One of Them will Destroy the Other”, and everything else in between. While the set may have been kicked off with a throwback interview from nearly two decades back, it’s clear from the consistent connection between band and crowd that Mayday Parade has truly grown up with their audience, well beyond the scope of many of their mid-2000s Warped Tour contemporaries. If the response to Sunday’s celebration at The Strand is any indicator to the band’s lasting impression on the pop punk scene, you can certainly expect many others to keep on belting out every word at Mayday Parade shows for another 20 years (and beyond). Review courtesy of Brent McCann