By SARA BORRO
staff writer

A 10-year anniversary in music is a fairly large deal. With an industry that is constantly and literally changing day to day, being able to celebrate something that has been around for a decade is something to be celebrated.
This year, Tallahassee, Fla.-based pop-punk band Mayday Parade is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the release of their first EP titled “Tales Told By Dead Friends.”
Mayday Parade was formed in 2005 with the joining of two smaller Florida bands, Kid Named Chicago and Defining Moment.
The two bands utilized the same practice space and eventually decided that it made more sense to begin playing together rather than separately.
Kid Named Chicago brought in lead vocalist Jason Lancaster, guitarist Alex Garcia and drummer Jake Bundrick and Defining Moment contributed second lead vocalist Derek Sanders, guitarist Brooks Betts and bassist Jeremy Lenzo.
Shortly after merging, the band began recording its first EP. It was during this time that they all agreed to rename the band Mayday Parade.
When “Tales Told By Dead Friends” was released in 2006, it sold over 50,000 copies despite the band being unsigned.
Along with the enormous success of their first EP release, Mayday Parade was signed to Fearless Records later that year.
In 2007 the band released its first full-length album “A Lesson In Romantics”.
After the group had finished recording the album, singer Jason Lancaster decided to leave the band.
The finished album was released in July 2007. This was a very big year for Mayday Parade because in addition to their first full studio album, they made their first full appearance at Van’s Warped Tour.
In the years since the release of their first full-length album, Mayday Parade has in total released four more full length studio albums: “Anywhere But Here” (2008), self-titled “Mayday Parade” (2011), “Monsters In The Closet” (2013) and “Black Lines” (2015).
In addition to the full-length albums, Mayday Parade also released a second EP in 2011 featuring some acoustic versions of songs on previous albums, as well as two brand-new songs.
The band has also been on Van’s Warped Tour multiple times and recently headlined the Alternative Press Tour in the fall of 2015.
Mayday Parade has been enormously successful in the alternative music scene. With five full- length albums, two EPs, dozens of tours and an overwhelmingly dedicated fan base, Mayday Parade is thriving even after 10 years.
In the summer of 2016, Mayday Parade announced they would be heading out on a 10-year anniversary tour in the fall.
They also announced they would release a 10-year anniversary edition of “Tales Told by Dead Friends.”
The tour kicked off last week in Florida and the anniversary EP was released Thursday. The re-release of the EP also featured a new song titled “The Problem With The Big Picture Is That It’s Hard To See.”
The day the anniversary EP was released, the band tweeted a link to a music video for the new song. The video included home-video footage of the band over the last 10 years. It was evident that the song was a “thank you” to the band’s fans for an amazing 10 years of “love, laugher and movement,” and of course, music.
For fans who have followed Mayday Parade since their formation, this year is quite an emotional one.
It is a very special experience to those who have been able to grow up with a band, and it is even more special to be able to celebrate 10 years of magic with them.
In the same way that their fans have grown and matured since the release of the first EP, each album Mayday Parade has created reflects and expresses a sense of growth and maturity.
Their earlier work including “Tales Told By Dead Friends” and “A Lesson In Romantics” focuses heavily on young love and experiences of loss and learning.
While their later works such as “Monsters In The Closet” and “Black Lines” have more of a “self” message, and while having a harder sound than their earlier works, the overall tone and emotional vibe from the songs is much more positive and uplifting.
Some fans decried their first few works to be “whiney” and like the latest albums much more.
The 10-year mark for the band has many fans feeling nostalgic. Some have expressed how the re-release and 10-year tour feels very “full-circle.”
The band has helped many people through the extremely confusing, difficult and “emo” years of middle and high school, so it is fulfilling for fans to be able to see the songs they grew up with be played on stage for what may be the first time.
No matter if they’re fans who at 14 years old sat in their bedrooms singing into hairbrushes, or are a fan who hopped on the Mayday Parade train a few months ago, it can be agreed that it is a very special and magical time for Mayday Parade and their fans.
Music is amazing, but 10 years of it is extraordinary.

SARA BORRO
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