Fans of Arizona rockers The Maine can look forward to the band's first-ever headline tour of Australia early next year.
With their previous Oz tours being as support for other bands, The Maine will finally be giving their Aussie followers the show they've been waiting for.
“We just toured with All Time Low over there, so now we want to come back to play our own shows, play a long set and be able to put on a different performance over there than we've had the chance to,” drummer Patrick Kirch says.
As their maiden tour in a headlining role, Patrick says it will be a major milestone for the band and one that will open up a new, international market for their live performances. “The response has been insane,” he says.
“It finally feels like Australia is becoming another place where we have a substantial audience and a place that we're going to continue to come back to.
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“Anytime we can solidify ourselves as a headlining band in any place, that's a big moment because then that means we can take our career into our own hands at that point.
“We can come back to Australia and tour when we want to, when we want to play for people and not when we have to wait for a band or a festival to come and bring us over. That's the approach we take with everything – 'what can we do to take this into our own hands?'”
The Maine released their most recent album, 'Lovely Little Lonely', back in April, the sixth studio record they've produced since dropping their first EP ten years ago. When they get here in January next year, Patrick says their plan is to play songs from across their entire catalogue.
“For the tour in Australia the thought process is that we're going to perform a bunch from this record,” he says, “but because it is the first time we've had the chance to play a long set, we wanted to do something where we could play songs from all the catalogue, from all the records that the fans over there haven't had the chance to experience.
“It's about creating the ultimate tour, the ultimate setlist with all the records that we've toured everywhere else and finally being able to come to Australia and give people that entire show.”
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After the Australian tour and the rest of their live commitments are completed, Patrick says the next project for the band is releasing a collection of B-sides and rarities. “I think it's going to be a little bit before we make a proper record, but we have a lot of material that hasn't made it onto albums in the past,” he says.
“So we're talking about digging through all of that stuff and maybe piecing together some type of B-side collection. That's what we're talking about doing next and then we'll make a record and go back out and tour just like we always do.”
The Maine Shows
Tue 30 Jan - Amplifier Bar (Perth)Wed 31 Jan - Fowlers Live (Adelaide)
Fri 2 Feb - Corner Hotel (Melbourne)
Sat 3 Feb - Factory Theatre (Sydney)
Sun 4 Feb - The Triffid (Brisbane)
