Landon Williams | Staff Reporter

Mainland couldn’t seem to catch a break during this show. The doors opened long before they were finished sound-checking, the sound engineers couldn’t get the mix right, and their keyboard wasn’t even turned on during a couple songs.  Whenever they were facing annoying obstacles, Mainland would handle each instance with poise and grace. They turned each problem into a humorous moment while maintaining an image of professionalism during their opening performance.

Their actual performance of the show was eye-catching. Opening bands do not often have many opportunities to give a thought-provoking, creative performance. They generally only have half the stage to perform on since the main act’s gear is set up, so even theatrical movements that are available can be limited. In my opinion, an opening band’s job is to give a taste of what they can truly provide. They are given the task of proving themselves by demonstrating that they can be phenomenal with limited resources.

Mainland’s show was not considered phenomenal necessarily by the performance each member gave but by how they handled opportunities given to them that were out of their control. At one point, fans started throwing roses at them, and they integrated the roses into the show and used them as accessories.

During the end of a song, frontman Jordan Topf got a nosebleed. No one had any orthodox way for him to clean his nose, so he ended up settling for a tampon. He performed the next few songs with a tampon stuck up his nose. It made the show special, funny, and entertaining. Instances like those showed that the band could create interesting moments at the drop of a hat while also making the best of the worst circumstances.

All of this on top of their catchy music, foot-tamping tempos, and friendly smiles made them extremely pleasant to watch. There were a few moments where a guitarist was a beat late on a trash-can ending or a pedal wasn’t switched off in time, but the average ear won’t catch things like that. Overall, their performance was memorable, and I’m looking forward to experiencing their headline tour in the coming months where they will have full creative freedom.