Mayday Parade has been making thousands of people's dreams come true in the past year. They just finished their ten year anniversary tour for their debut EP, Tales Told by Dead Friends. Just a few weeks later, they have graced the scene with yet another big tour announcement, this time bringing Knuckle Puck and Milestones out with them to support the tenth anniversary of their debut full-length, A Lesson in Romantics this Spring.
Excited to announce our "A Lesson in Romantics TOUR”!
VIP on sale 12/6 @ 12:00EST + general admission on sale 12/9 @ 10:00AM local time. pic.twitter.com/5U1rOMeWA9
— Mayday Parade (@maydayparade)
As I started writing this, We The Kings did the same thing for the tenth anniversary of their self-titled debut album.
#WTK10 dates are HERE. We can't wait to see you out there! 🤘 Pre-sale is 12/7, and tickets go on sale 12/9 😎 https://t.co/gr4oTg1zbx pic.twitter.com/zDPT6sGjDa
— We The Kings (@WeTheKings)
With two big announcements (Mayday Parade's admittedly meaning much more to me than We The Kings' does) on the same day, I'm having a hard time thinking straight. Despite my scrambled thoughts about how I can convince my parents that I'm a starving and broke college student who deserves a VIP ticket to the Mayday Parade show as a Christmas present, I also got to thinking about just how many great albums came out in 2007 and just how many of them could realistically happen next calendar year. As 2016 winds down, these tours can and will start getting announced. So let's get excited about it with my personal favorite 7 albums released in 2007 that I hope will get an anniversary tour in 2017. Leave a comment below on how you feel about this list and any albums you feel I may have missed!
1. The Menzingers - "A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology"
Let's face it -- not enough people talk about the Menzingers. They have been a band since 2006 and have still never truly broken through in the scene. Despite having headlined tours and gained a solid fanbase, they seem to always be lacking that big single or huge tour that can gain them the support they deserve. A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology, their first full-length, blows out its tenth candle at the end of next July, and what better way to celebrate than by bringing out classic Menzingers jams such as "Straight to Hell" and "No Ticket"? Just hearing that an album is turning ten years old brings fans out in bigger numbers than many other headlining tours can. Old fans and new ones alike would be attracted to the shows and could bring in people who have never heard of the band as well. When the album was being made, producer Jesse Cannon said that the Menzingers "have it all", and now is their chance to show the world that. For support, bands like Red City Radio and Captain, We're Sinking (which features Bobby Barnett, brother to Greg Barnett of the Menzingers) would fit the bill perfectly.
2. The Starting Line - "Direction"
Honestly, Direction might be the least well-known album released by The Starting Line to date. I had been listening to the band for almost two years before I ever got around to this album, but I am so glad that I eventually did. Despite perhaps not being a very well-known album, it received rave reviews from just about every punk site that reviewed it. Songs like "Island", "Need to Love", and "Way With Words" would all be great to see live, and this album could create a great tour. This tour may be one of the least likely on this list, but I can still dream, right? The Starting Line is a classic pop-punk mainstay, and they just got announced for the Warped Rewind cruise next Fall. With these dates already booked, this could be a Spring tour to kick off concert season for those who are preparing for other big shows in March and April. Bands like Vacationer and Hit The Lights could come along for the ride and make for a big tour.
3. Cartel - "Cartel"
It just feels as if Cartel has never reached the level of popularity that they deserve. Another band that has already been confirmed to play the Warped Rewind cruise next Fall, Cartel could make a serious paycheck if they piggyback off of this announcement by announcing a tour for their self-titled album. This album became infamous for being recorded in a bubble at Hudson River Park in New York, ultimately being dubbed Band in a Bubble and making huge waves on MTV. It may have been a very obvious marketing stunt (which vocalist Will Pugh eventually did admit), but it worked, and it gave the band all sorts of attention as they approached the release of this album. While the album ultimately got mixed reviews (and may not have reached the same level of success as its follow-up, Cycles, did), it did enough to keep fans interested and wanting more. "Wasted", "Lose It", and "Lonely One" live? Yes, please. Bring out bands like Hit The Lights (who might end up having a busy schedule supporting some ten-year anniversary tours) and a returning Anarbor to create some real magic out on the road.
4. All Time Low - "So Wrong, It's Right"
This is a weird one because I have never truly been overly fond of All Time Low. They have a few solid songs that really stick out, but I have never been fully captivated by an album of theirs front to back. However, if there is one All Time Low album that deserves a six-week-long tenth birthday party, it is So Wrong, It's Right. Sandwiched between Put Up or Shut Up (2006) and Nothing Personal (2009), this album gave All Time Low the extra shove it needed to cement itself as a big name in the pop-punk scene. "Dear Maria, Count Me In" was certified platinum by the RIAA in 2015, and this is arguably the band's biggest hit of all. So Wrong, It's Right reached the number ten spot on Rocksound's "The 51 Most Essential Pop Punk Albums of All Time" countdown, and with good reason. With classic All Time Low songs such as "Poppin' Champagne", "Remembering Sunday", and "Six Feet Under the Stars", playing this album in full could draw in a lot of casual and hardcore fans alike. As for supporting acts, Tonight Alive is always a solid choice; Just Surrender, who did an acoustic tour with All Time Low in support of the release of So Wrong, It's Right , could also fit the bill very well.
5. Fall Out Boy - "Infinity On High"/Paramore - "Riot!"
Paramore and Fall Out Boy are both bands that popularized pop-punk in the early and mid-2000's. While Under the Cork Tree is debatably Fall Out Boy's defining album (and undoubtedly their most successful statistically, selling 2.7 million copies in the United States), Infinity on High is its closest competitor to date, selling 1.4 million copies in the U.S. as Under the Cork Tree's 2007 follow-up. This definitely happened for a reason; aside from riding the high that their previous album had given them, "Thnks fr th Mmrs" and "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" lead the way on this fourteen-track album in its path to taking the pop-punk scene back over. The album it shares this entry with, Paramore's Riot!, is arguably Paramore's defining album. It sold 2 million copies in the United States alone and reached 4.5 million worldwide, and with good reason. Riot!, which is the band's sophomore effort, includes their breakout song, "Misery Business". Also included on the album are "When it Rains" and "That's What You Get", with the latter becoming certified platinum by the RIAA. Riot! is what made Paramore what people think of Paramore as, and Infinity on High further solidified the image of Fall Out Boy that many people had and loved. Both bands have since changed their styles and evolved into a more pop-centric sound, and there is a very big division in each band's respective fan bases due to their changes in sound over time. Say what you want about the changes either have gone through, this co-headlining tour would be such a great nostalgia trip. They've toured together before, and they absolutely can (and SHOULD) again in honor of these two albums turning ten years old.
6. A Day To Remember - "For Those Who Have Heart"
This one almost edged out my number one pick, but my penultimate pick goes to A Day To Remember. You will see why it came in second and may or may not agree, but second isn't bad at all, even if the band says that 2nd Sucks. Their second album, for example, did not suck. For Those Who Have Heart improved exponentially from its predecessor, as I spoke about when I ranked all of ADTR's albums. Maybe I am a bit biased because I have now been waiting for almost six years for my chance to see A Day To Remember live, but this album is a perfect excuse to put them back out on the road. While they may be waiting to do a celebratory tour for Homesick, I think they can and should do both. With songs like "The Danger in Starting a Fire" and "The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle" providing the backbone for this record, there is no lack of good songs to bang our heads to in a packed mosh pit if given the opportunity. If the band decided to bring on someone like We Came As Romans or You Me At Six (or both, both could definitely work) to support this tour, several huge fanbases--as well as several overlapping fanbases--could collide for a massive tour of some pretty large venues.
7. Pierce The Veil - "A Flair for the Dramatic"
Okay, so my inner scene kid is showing with this number one pick. Pierce The Veil may have passed their prime and slightly altered their audience with Misadventures, but that does not at all change just how much their previous albums meant to me and to the scene. Selfish Machines , their sophomore effort, may be their greatest album of all time, but their debut full-length was what catapulted them into the scene and gave us a reason to take notice of them. My personal favorite song of theirs, "Yeah Boy and Doll Face", is featured on this album, as is highly popular "The Balcony Scene". This album is not necessarily Pierce The Veil's best work, as they had a lot of growing left to do, but it was a very impressive start to what has been a successful career that has now crossed over into new audiences, late-night performances, and more. Honoring this album in full with help from bands like letlive. and Emarosa could make for a historic tour.