Baltimore – When Andrew McMahon plays a show, whether it is a Jack’s Mannequin reunion, a surprise Something Corporate gig or his annual Dear Jack benefit concert, there is always a group of loyal listeners in attendance. Of course there’s is variety in the audience, but people who have been listening to McMahon since the early aughts usually make up the majority of the room. There will be walk-ins and new listeners, in this case folks who have only heard McMahon’s newest single, “Cecilia and the Satellite,” but the diehard fans will be there too and they are perhaps part of what makes an Andrew McMahon show so special. Their presence is part of what allows for McMahon to play a selection of songs from his entire career, working every band, side and solo project into the set list. They are the ones that know every song and sing along happily to anything, whether it’s a staple like “Dark Blue” or one he probably hasn’t played live in some time like “Amy, I.” He could play a selection of Nickelback covers and they’d still show up. McMahon’s Ram’s Head show was no exception.
The evening opened with “Maps For The Getaway,” a song off McMahon’s newest release Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness, which Best New Bands reviewed last month, so anyone new to his music wouldn’t be lost at that point. However, as the night progressed McMahon played through songs from Something Corporate’s Leaving Through The Window, Jack’s Mannequin’s Everything in Transit and Andrew McMahon’s The Pop Underground. The majority of the room followed along, but anyone who wasn’t/couldn’t must have been somewhere between intimidated and impressed with the response.
Andrew McMahon fans are some of the most longstanding, welcoming and supportive. As much as McMahon’s music must still charm new listeners to his shows, there are just so many people there that have been in it for the long haul. On Friday when Andrew played the set list rarity “Cavanaugh Park” off Something Corporate’s first album Ready…Break, which came out in 2000, it was probably not the first time they had heard it live. Even one of the opening acts, Hunter Hunted, sheepishly admitted to being fans of McMahon since the days of Something Corporate. Despite its short life, the success of that first project cemented so many of McMahon’s fans. When McMahon bantered on about how “I Woke Up In A Car” was about an early Something Corporate’s van tour when he was an 18/19 year old, the audience cheered at the name of his old outfit. Given the age range of the audience, some of the folks in the audience were probably at that tour. Something Corporate had been their favorite band in high school and they followed him ever since. Later when he mentioned last year’s Baltimore show, which he played as simply Andrew McMahon, which came together despite a heinous rainstorm, half the room cheered. They had been there, standing in the downpour, waiting to listen to him play and they showed up again this time on a cold autumn night to support his newest venture. That was the nature of an Andrew McMahon show.
The Ram’s Head audience was dotted with people in band shirts from various points in McMahon’s career. One fan even lofted a “Happy Birthday Jay” sign, knowing that it was drummer Jay McMillan’s birthday. McMillan had played with Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin and was a welcome addition to this line up. Fans had come to see him play as well as McMahon. His shock of blue hair was a familiar site and as always his drumline led the clap-along to “La La Lie.”
It may appear to some that McMahon fans know a little too much about his life. Beyond what musicians he records and tours with, they know plenty about his personal life. When McMahon married his long-term girlfriend Kelly, the fans knew about it. Rather than taking the rabid fangirl response of “boohoo now I can’t marry Andrew,” the fan base celebrated the event. When the couple had their first child, the fans knew about that, too. No surprise: McMahon announced the birth of his daughter, Cecilia, via Instagram, so fans knew exactly whom McMahon was thinking of when he wrote “Cecilia and the Satellite.” For this reason the opening chords to “Rainy Girl,” another song written for Cecilia, was met with an “awwwwww” from the audience. The line “I can’t wait to meet you” provoked another squeal from the audience.
Other artists extrapolate and open up about the origins of their songs and their motivations, but McMahon does so with such candor and ease. During the opening bars of Something Corporate’s “Ruthless,” McMahon explained how he wrote the song about an ex-manager during the recording of the band’s album North. The song, which sounds like a standard breakup track, probably nursed more than one audience member through a bad split, so it was met with uproarious applause. A newer break-up song, “Halls,” off Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness, was met with the same response. It will probably go on to get factions of the fanbase through future breakups.
Whether performing newer songs like “Synesthesia” and “All Our Lives” or old favorites like “Watch the Sky” and “Dark Blue,” McMahon shows will always merit this overwhelmingly positive response. His music comes with a community of loyal listeners who will readily burn you a copy of Audioboxer and share their analysis of “Holiday from Reel.” They will always pack the shows, but they will also welcome new members. There’s nothing cliquish or exclusive about the fanbase. They won’t judge you by how many shows you’ve been to or by how well you know the songs. They’ll teach you the lines to “Crashing” and soon you’ll be buying tickets to consecutive nights of McMahon’s tour. So if you have the chance, go see McMahon on one of the remaining dates of his fall headlining U.S. tour, which continues through the end of the month. You’ll hear some great music while in the company of some of the people who know it best.
Zoe Marquedant
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