Mother ‘Mae’ I, The Metro, Chicago, IL, August 25, 2006

by Dan Hargesheimerr

Mae, an acronym for Multisensory Aesthetic Experience, seeks to translate the musical experience for all the senses – vision, taste, feel, and more. The group from Virginia gave the fans of Chicago a different and unique taste of what a little keyboard and piano, some rockin' guitars, great rhythms, and infectious beats can do for them. Their sound is a little different from Indie Rock music nowadays. More bands are starting to incorporate piano and keyboard into their music, but rarely does it turn out like this. With the piano and slightly lighter sound than other music in their same genre, maybe even your mother would approve of you making it out to Mae's Chicago concert!

Mae came out and started off with "Painless" which rocks the crowd awake, builds them up to a peak, and then drops some piano on them to unleash an energy that isn't felt by listening to many other bands. You could see the crowd letting the sounds sink deep down inside their bodies, and while singing and moving, kept a keen ear for the music that Mae was making. Then to keep everyone riled up, Mae dropped the ever-popular song "Summertime" from their first CD, Destination: Beautiful. The crowd sang all they knew, and reminisced about their summer that was while jamming out with the Virginians.

Prior to the sixth song of the set, Mae lead singer Dave Elkins informed the crowd that they are now three and a half weeks into their current tour promoting their newest CD The Everglow, and are already in the process of creating their next album! He told the Mae fans in attendance that they were about to play a song off that new album called "Crazy 8's." It was reasonably well received for being a fresh track that nobody had heard yet, and the collectively-appreciative patrons of the Metro were glad to have heard it first. Though the crowd didn't show too much emotion, or movement for that matter, they truly understood how talented this group is, and how much their music ‘gets to you.' It was more of a night for the crowd to just kind of sit back and take it all in.

Before "Mistakes We Knew We Were Making," Elkins told the crowd that this song was written about ‘new love… when a baby enters into the picture, a couple finds something more selfless than themselves in life.' He also informed the crowd that The Everglow ‘is what we've experienced on the road the last three and a half years'… and told us all to ‘shoot for our dreams!' Their newest hit song "Suspension," drew a great response from the crowd with the most movement and singing of the whole night. A little more than halfway through the show, Mae showcased a different version of "This Time." It had an electronic and almost beat-boxy feel to it. With the song being sped up, and with different beats, it gave the fans something different to chew on.

I had not seen Mae in concert in almost 2 years, and I'm very glad I got to see them back on tour! Their upcoming CD is one of my most anticipated releases of the next year, and I'm sure they will selling copies like hotcakes!

Set List:

1. Painless


2. Summertime


3. Soundtrack From Our Movie


4. Cover Me


5. This Is The Countdown


6. Crazy 8's


7. Ember & Envelope


8. Suspension


9. This Time Is The Last Time


10. Ocean


11. Mistakes We Knew We Were Making


12. Where the Falls Begin


13. Everglow


14. Anything

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