On Valentine’s Day weekend, I had the pleasure of going to see Marianas Trench, one of my favorite bands, in concert for the first time. And their show exceeded all of my high hopes and expectations.
Based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, the four piece pop-rock band is made up of lead singer Josh Ramsay, guitarist Matt Webb, bassist Mike Ayley and drummer Ian Casselman.
Their music has been compared to that of All Time Low, Maroon 5 and We The Kings. What sets them apart is their attention to detail, performance and concept in their albums.
Each of their albums has a distinct theme. For instance, their most recent album “Astoria” is named after the town in “The Goonies” and is completely ‘80s influenced.
They often have full orchestrated pieces and original mash-ups of previous songs and lyrics. To top it off, their music is catchy and driven by Ramsay’s impressive vocal range.
The band toured America from November to February, stopping in Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis just to name a few. I went to the Indianapolis show at The Old National Centre.
The show was held in the historic Egyptian Room; the walls were painted with hieroglyphics and old drawings. It was about the size of a large reception hall, and it comfortably held about 500 people.
The concert was standing room only, but thankfully the crowd had room to move around and dance.
The music before the show was ‘80s-themed, with songs like “Take On Me” and “Thriller,” and most of the crowd sang along. Just before the band walked on stage, the speakers grew much louder and played Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel,” signaling the crowd that the show was about to begin.
The lights shot out from the back of the stage, silhouetting Casselman as he walked out on stage. He started playing the beginning of their song “Astoria,” and the rest of the band soon followed.
Ramsay’s face was in shadows, concealed by a silver, hooded vest. Ramsay sang out the powerful first note of the song, and flipped the hood off of his head. The crowd exploded into screaming and singing.
Marianas Trench performed most of “Astoria,” along with hits from their older albums. Their songs, as cliché as it sounds, were even better live. Ramsay had the fans laughing in-between every song.
Towards the end of the show, he went down into the crowd to skip and dance around with fans. I was one of the lucky few to dance right next to him.
Probably the best part was getting to meet the band after the show. They announced that they would stay to hang out, as they do with all of their smaller shows, and I got to take pictures with them. They were very nice and happy to see their fans.
The tour is now over, but Marianas Trench promises that they will be back in America soon. I highly recommend listening to them and going out to their show when they come back again.
