I Love You But I Chose The Maine: Dallas, TX 5/2/26

Five-piece Arizona rock band The Maine came to The Bomb Factory in Dallas on Saturday night for the last stop of their “I Love You But I Chose The Maine” tour! I’ve been a long-time fan, so as soon as I managed to call out of work for the weekend, I impulsively bought plane tickets to fly from southern California for the show. I knew this was going to be special since it was closing night of their most ambitious tour yet.

I arrived at the venue bright and early at 9 am to secure my spot at the barricade, and despite the heat (and the gnarly sunburns I developed) I enjoyed my wait! I made lots of friends—the tight knit community of The Maine’s fans named the “8123” family have always been the most amazing people to meet. Shoutouts to Alyssa, Jenna, and Louie!

The first act on stage was the Nashville trio Moody Joody. I hadn’t heard of them before this, but I was blown away by their set! They began with “Talk Me Down,” a catchy song full of candid lyricism and addictive chanting moments. Singer Kayla Hall said that we would be taken through a roller coaster of emotions with their music, and she was right! The band slowed down the mood with anthemic melodies such as “Loretta’s Last Call” and “El Camino High,” while later kicking it into high energy with the song “OOPS!” A fun moment occurred when frontman Collin Walsh of Grayscale joined the stage for the song “Dream Girl.” Finally, Moody Joody ended by treating us to an unreleased song called “Little Blue House.” There were telephone props used to accompany the dreamy atmosphere of the song, and I’ll definitely be listening when it comes out this Wednesday!

Second to take the stage was Grayscale, a rock band from Philadelphia. I’ve been listening to them for forever, so I knew the set would be killer! Like always, the band delivered a vibrant performance that got the crowd moving. They opened with the hit song “Through the Landslide,” off their latest album The Hart, and I sang every lyric! The following songs were a mix from various albums, and included upbeat tunes like “Painkiller Weather” and “Motown.” A surprise came when Walsh announced they were going to play something new they hadn’t done all tour, and to my excitement it was a cover of “Shimmer” by the 90s band, Fuel! It’s safe to say that they crushed the cover and truly got the audience hyped up. Long-time fans were treated when “Fever Dream” was played—a high-energy song from their early career—before they closed with my personal favorite, “Not Afraid To Die.” I’ve always loved that song because of its hopeful message about living life to its fullest. Grayscale is truly a one-of-a-kind band that deserves more recognition!

Following Grayscale came Nightly, funnily enough another trio from Nashville! The friends I came to the show with were huge fans of theirs and had told me about Nightly’s stellar performance quality beforehand—and without a doubt the band was incredible! Beginning their set with “TV Shows” immediately set a captivating, emotional mood that only progressed throughout their set. The vibes swelled with sentimental songs such as “Are You Downtown Tonight?” and “The Feeling,” as the band’s obvious connection to the music was felt throughout the crowd. A heartfelt moment came when singer Jonathan Capeci delivered a vulnerable speech about the band’s recent journey of independence, and how they never let fear get in the way of their passion for creation. This sincerity led into “twenty something,” a song where the instruments and vocals reflect on themes of nostalgia and sadness. What I loved the most about Nightly was that I could feel their authenticity radiating in every song. One of my favorite moments of the whole night was rapping my heart out with my friends during the bridge of “Like I Do,” and then dancing to the closing track “Hate My Favorite Band.”

Finally, The Maine took the stage for their final performance of this tour. Let me just say, WOW. I had seen them several times before this show and it’s crazy that they just keep getting better every time! They made this “I Love You But I Chose The Maine” run unique by changing up the setlist every single night, so fans were kept in anticipation over what songs would be performed. I think that what Dallas got was well worthy of being the tour finale! They began with “thoughts i have while lying in bed,” an atmospheric track about the joys and anxieties of finding love. I think this was a 10/10 opener choice, judging by the way the entire crowd freaked out and started dancing when it started!

They kept up energy with songs such as “I Think About You All The Time,” and “Die To Fall,” a popular single from their newest album Joy Next Door which recently came out on April 10^th. My personal favorite album of theirs has always been XOXO: From Love and Anxiety in Real Time, and I’m pretty sure I was screaming louder than anyone else when they played two tracks in a row from that album—“Sticky” and “Lips”! Frontman John O’Callaghan has always been incredible about interacting with fans, and it was a fun surprise when he joined the middle of the pit during “Sticky” to dance! I can assure you I danced hard enough for ten crowds that night.

When O’Callaghan got back on stage with an acoustic guitar, I knew that tears were going to be shed—but what no one was expecting was a performance of “Into Your Arms,” a tune from their first album from 2008, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop. The whole song felt like a cozy singalong moment, with everyone both on stage and in the crowd bearing their hearts! The Maine kicked it back into high gear with upbeat songs like “Touch” and “Loved You a Little,” before playing another deep cut, “Ice Cave” from the album Forever Halloween. My fellow Forever Halloween girls were going insane, and I can’t blame them! The song’s heavy guitars and moody vocals were captivating live. Another throwback was with “We All Roll Along,” another track from their first album. A fun tradition during this song on this tour is that O’Callaghan chooses a fan from the crowd to sing the last chorus, and the one chosen that night certainly delivered! Also a fun fact about this song is that the name of their fan base comes from the lyric “8123 means everything to me.”

The good vibes carried on with tracks like “Bad Behavior” and “Blame,” before they performed my favorite song of the night, “Take Me Dancing”! This song was unexpected due to it being a B-Side off the early album Pioneer, however it was so amazing live! It got me emotional hearing an upbeat, acoustic rendition of the song accompanied by the pleasant surprise of all the opening bands joining the stage to dance along! There were balloons and tears flowing everywhere by the end of it, and I’ve never felt so connected to live music in my life as that! It was a true emotional catharsis to belt out the lyric “You are not alone/ You still have a home” with all my new friends at the barricade.

To end the night stronger than ever, they played cult classic “Black Butterflies and Déjà vu,” the song that skyrocketed them in success! The few minutes of this song are pure elation, with every fan in the room screaming every line! O’Callaghan joined the pit again to close the show, crowd-surfing back to stage at the end. It’s easy to say that The Maine are the best performers I know, and have spent almost 20 whole years building up a lifelong community of music and friendship that has positively impacted millions of people! I know that I’ll always love and choose The Maine, and hope you do too!

**Editor’s Note- Thank you to guest writer- Sarah Lee- for writing the review of the night’s show to accompany Jess’s photos!**

PHOTO CREDIT: Live photos by Jess Fagan for ZRockR Magazine – @2026 – All Rights Reserved.