https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzlNaNPTEqg
Arizona’s deceivingly early sunrises do not make sense to my poor east coast body. We started off the morning at around 6:30 westbound for San Diego. The five hour drive looked like a dreamy sequence in a 90’s rap video, or National Geographic, whatever you’re into. Mountains are all well and good, unless your car would be better powered by removing the floorboard and Flintstone style navigating to the peaks.
San Diego emerged like a semi-flat beacon of hope, and a welcome rest for our Chevy Spark. A glimmering bonus was vegan noms at Native Foods. Full of a delicious BLT sandwich, we headed out to grab a drink at Rare Form in the downtown area near the venue, Quartyard.
A large gaggle of humans started to gather around 4:00, even though the show wasn’t set to kick off until 7:00. Attached to the Quartyard was a dog park, where we were lucky enough to meet a new bud, Barnaby the Great Dane. For both free shows i’ve attended, I have been lucky enough to catch soundcheck, which is an added benefit to the uniquely open venues. The crowd in San Diego was all over the place in age—I was surprised to see a good amount of young little whippersnappers, and older folks who hadn’t seen The Maine in years. San Diego resident Nick Martin, of Sleeping with Sirens, along with former A Rocket to the Moon drummer Lorin Brenton were also there.
Crowd participation was on fire, more people singing along to the old and new tunes than any other stop so far. I even spotted a guy watching from his nearby balcony. Leave it to The Maine to take a guy away from his living room punching bag to hear what they are all about. The Quartyard was a quirky venue with amazing acoustics, and for free? Gee thanks, don’t mind if I do. See you in L.A.!
