Hyperactive Andrew McMahon has plenty reasons to be cheerful tonight – he sold out King Tuts, got boosted up to the QMU – and judging by how densely packed even the balcony seems to be, can’t be far off capacity here too.
Maybe it’s the kind of mania inevitable after appearing on One Tree Hill, but the crowd aren’t only notable in their number: everyone seems to know every word to every song.
With a piano centre stage, red keyboard perched on top of it, McMahon flails at them in such a way that it seems only divine intervention could explain him hitting the right notes at the right time. And when there’s no notes to play, he grabs one of his two mics and bounds around the stage, tripping over his band like a kid on a sugar high.
This already-two-album ‘side project’ from McMahon’s other band Something Corporate is a pretty far stretch from his emo pop-punk roots. From the gentler ‘Swim’ to the more dramatic, fast-paced numbers like ‘Bruised’ and ‘Bloodshot’, it’s giddy and passionate pop with a capital P. The sweetness and melody ought to be utterly nauseating for some old school fans, but everybody in the QMU seems to be mesmerised.
Ending with the epic ‘Made For Each Other / You Can Breathe’, McMahon plays out his show like the charming closing scene of a perfect emo fairytale.