Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness at The Paramount
Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness The Paramount
The Upside Down Flowers Tour!
Huntington, NY
February 17, 2019
Andrew McMahon is a multi-faceted singer-songwriter. Over the past 20 years he has been the vocalist, pianist and primary lyricist for the bands Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin and has most recently been performing as a solo act as well as with his band, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness. In 2013, McMahon released his first solo EP, The Pop Underground (Left Here Music), which was followed by his debut album Andrew McMahon in The Wilderness (Vanguard records, 2014). His second album, Zombies On Broadway, was released by Vanguard in 2017, In late 2018, he released the third Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness album, Upside Down Flowers on Vanguard/Drive-Thru/MCA/Geffen Records.
Each of the Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness albums achieved success as did each of the six albums (three releases each) recorded with Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin. and two with his current project In The Wilderness (and another on the way), The man has the touch having charted 6 Top 30 Alternative hits.
On Sunday, February 17th in the sleepy Long Island town of Huntington, NY, McMahon delivered a career-spanning concert celebration. McMahon and his band’s set had a kinetic energy and fire that could have easily powered the venue’s electrical system. The pianist and his band’s 21-song main set was powerful, melodic, rockin’ and jam-packed with highlights.
The main set opened with “Everything Must Go” from Upside Down Flowers and was immediately showered with cheers and whistles. On this evening, McMahon not only performed a mix of songs from Jack’s Mannequin, Something Corporate and his solo career, but he also delivered an outrageous version of Cher’s “Believe.”
Other highlights from the performance included: “High Dive” (from the Andre McMahon in The Wilderness 2014 debut CD), “Ohio,” “House in the Trees,” “Island Radio,” “This Wild Ride,” “Blue Vacation,” “Paper Rain,” “Monday Flowers,” “Teenage Rockstars” and the main set-closer “Fire Escape.” During the main set, McMahon paid attention to his personal history by taking the audience on a trip down memory lane with tunes from his Jack’s Mannequin (“The Mixed Tape,” “Holiday From Real” and “Dark Blue”) and Something Corporate (a somewhat extended version of “Punk Rock Princess,” “She Paints Me Blue” and “I Woke Up in a Car”) tenures.
The encores included two stellar interpretations of Jack’s Mannequin tunes: “The Resolution” from The Glass Passenger (Sire/Warner Bros. records, 2008) and “MFEO: Pt. 1 - Made for Each Other/Pt. 2 - You Can Breathe” from Everything In Transit (Maverick Records, 2005). The evening ended with what has become McMahon’s signature song--“Cecilia and the Satellite”—on which the audience at the sold-out venue sang, at the top of their collective lungs, along with the performer.
Not only was the evening a fantastic trip through the past, but it also served as a reminder that McMahon is currently making new memories for his fans.
Photo Credit: Christine Connallon