ALT-ROCK BAND THE MAINE BRINGS ‘JOY NEXT DOOR’ TO MINNEAPOLIS

April 16, 2026

3–4 minutes

Arizona’s indie-rock band The Maine celebrated their 10th album release by bringing — literally and musically — Joy Next Door to downtown Minneapolis. This beautiful night consisted of ear to ear smiles, dancing, lots of gratitude and a whole lot of green.

The group of five alt-rockers that make up The Maine clearly love what they do, and they do it well. The band formed in 2007, and since then they have released 10 albums within 19 years and have gone on countless tours both opening and headlining. Including beloved Warped Tour at least 5 times. The Maine took to social media before the tour started calling for a “green out,” asking everyone to wear green in celebration of their 10th album, Joy Next Door, which was set to release the night of the Minneapolis show. While talking about the album, the lead singer John O’Callaghan expressed his gratitude to everyone for showing up to what would be their biggest Minneapolis show to date.

The first band on the bill was Chicago-based alternative band Friday Pilots Club. These guys created such a fun set filled with beautiful harmonies and killer drum fills ‚— an incredible start to the night. Nightly was second to perform, and they were such a vibe. An independent three piece alt-pop band from Nashville, Nightly sounds as if The 1975 used more synth and cranked the bass. They specialize in emotional, yet upbeat and groovy tracks perfect for a chill a day or a late night drive. Funny enough, they even have an album out called songs to drive to. Philadelphia rock band Grayscale came next, and they brought up the energy with their epic cover of the iconic “Twist and Shout,” dancing about the stage. However, the dancing didn’t stop there, not by a long shot.

The crowd at First Avenue did not disappoint. While waiting for The Maine to take the stage, the venue put on an interesting playlist that had a little bit of everything. Fans of all ages were singing along passionately to Creed’s “Higher” and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).” The fog machine ran thick, making the golden lights hazy as they stepped on stage. O’Callaghan expressed his thanks after every song; he was immensely grateful and everyone could feel it. The singer even hopped in the pit at one point to pick a fan brave enough to finish the last verse of a song solo. The fan absolutely killed it of course, and the whole venue sang proudly along beside her. All night, you could see smiles run across everyone’s faces, especially the band’s.

Throughout the night, fans sang along to every single song, even the new ones! The Maine brought back out the other three bands to accompany them on stage for “Take Me Dancing,” helping out with vocals, shakers and tambourines. The other bands that played before had big grins plastered across their face as they came back on stage, hopping around and having fun. The whole venue clapped to the beat of the song and cheered loudly all before frontman O’Callaghan shouted into the mic “Music is awesome!” and then busted into the best harmonica solo you’ve ever heard.

However, the night wasn’t complete without The Maine performing their most popular song, “Black Butterflies and Deja Vu.” When the first few notes started to play, the whole venue was jumping in excitement ready to sing along. The crowd was just as loud as the mic’d up band. It all felt cathartic, hearing everyone sing out loud and express their love for the song. The Maine didn’t just bring the Joy Next Door, they created it.

Buy tickets to the Joy Next Door Tour: here.