Mae at Summit Music Hall with All Get Out, Mike Mains & The Branches – Concert Review

On June 8, I went to the Mae show to revisit my college days. You can consider this an anniversary or maybe a reunion show that focuses on my favorite Mae album: The Everglow. I’ll dive more into Mae’s history later; first, I want to talk about the openers. Mike Mains & The Branches were completely new to me. I saw them mentioned on Mae’s Instagram account, but I didn’t have time to look them up before the show. I’d heard of All Get Out previously and checked out their latest EP before heading downtown. Overall, it was a great evening of chill music that’s still resonating in my brain. The last show of this tour is tonight (June 16) in Nashville; get there if you can. If not, expect to hear more from all these bands in the future. Shout out to Richard Meyer who helped me work out the photo pass for the show. Thanks!

Mike Mains & The Branches at Summit Music Hall in Denver, Colorado

After listening to Mike Mains & The Branches at the show, I can confidently say you should check them out. They’ve been around the indie rock genre for a few years now and definitely deserve more attention. Solid instrumentals, good lyrics, and powerful vocals – I ran right to the merch table after the set to snag their latest album Calm Down, Everything is Fine.

Mike Mains has a great sound the band calls “aggressive.” I’d say he has a very clean vocal that morphs into an aggressive scream within the lines of reason. His screaming is always energetic and fits nicely into the lyrics. Screaming that ‘makes sense’ is new to me, but it really does work in this setting. His wife, Shannon Briggs-Mains, plays the keyboard and adds great backing vocals to their sound. They blend perfectly. Nathan Wethy locks down the groove with his bass lines.

Nathan’s the only listed member of the rhythm section. They brought in a guitarist and drummer for the tour, but I couldn’t find any information about them on social media or the band’s website. Thankfully, I got in touch with my friend, Richard, and found out that they’re brothers: Tate and Tory Kirgiss. They were awesome and sounded great with the original three members. You can check out the pictures of everyone below, and make sure to buy some of their music!

All Get Out at Summit Music Hall in Denver, Colorado

These guys were another fantastic opener. I love it when I get to hear two great bands before the main act even takes the stage. It’s somewhat unusual at this point… especially with bigger acts that have agenda-based labels. Mae’s only agenda is to provide us with great music. All Get Out makes listening to music so easy. Their musicality is great. As I mentioned, I listened to their new EP – Movement – several times before heading to the show. Sometimes bands sound worse live than they do in the studio. That was not the case with All Get Out. Not even close. In fact, Nate Hussey (lead singer and guitarist) made everything more relatable. He sang with so much passion that I found myself lost in the music and forgot to take pictures after a bit. I also couldn’t help but smile at the vocal similarities between Nate Hussey and Dan Haseltine from Jars of Clay.

The rhythm section was solid throughout the set. Mike Rogers held down the bass, Kyle Samuel did the same on the guitar, and Josh Keane rocked the drums. They all seemed super polished; it was a great sound. I couldn’t think of another band that sounds like them, and I like that. I’d liken them to a less-emo version of Dashboard Confessional mixed with a less-screamo version of AFI. That’s an epic sound in my opinion.

Check out the pictures below, and make sure to show them some support via Spotify or buy their album on Amazon. I can’t wait to hear more music from this band in the future.

Mae at Summit Music Hall in Denver, Colorado

It’s so good to have Mae back from hiatus. They’ve played a few shows in recent years, but they haven’t done a national tour in a long time. They picked the perfect album to play on tour. I have a hard time choosing a favorite Mae album. It’s between The Everglow and Singularity, but after seeing this show live, The Everglow has a slight edge. They did a few songs before starting the album and played a few more tracks at the end. It was such a fun show.

Dave Elkins had the tour plague for the Denver show, but he still did a great job on vocals. Mae has high, difficult, and beautiful vocals. I was surprised with how well he hit the notes even with a cold. If I remember correctly, I think he was sick for the Denver stop of the 2005 The Everglow tour too; it must be something in the air. Maybe we can convince them to start their next tour in Denver? Either way, it was great to time travel to my college days and enjoy some music from Mae.

The band did a fabulous job too. Zach was as animated as ever; Mark, Rob, and Jacob all seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was just a perfectly chill show from one of my favorite bands. I would even call it intimate — partly because it was a smaller venue, partly because of the lighting. They had a lighting rig on stage that reminded me of stargazing. It wasn’t all harsh stage lights, and I loved it. I tried to get some pictures of it to capture the moment as best as possible. But they’re still pictures.

If you live in Nashville, stop looking at these photos and head over to Exit/In for their final show of the tour. Seriously, it starts in a couple hours. Get out of here. If you aren’t in Nashville, check out the pictures and catch them next time they come to town. You should expect new music from these guys soon. Until then, listen to them on Spotify, buy more of their music, and fall in love with them again like it’s 2005.