These past few weeks have proven to be wildly busy in the world of alternative rock group, The Maine. They celebrated their 10-year anniversary as a band at their very own 8123 Fest, issued their first of many new songs to come, “Bad Behavior”, off their upcoming album Lovely, Little, Lonely, and released dates and tickets for their upcoming world tour this spring. An exhaustively exciting string of news for lovers of the group. Something else to get on board with? The unique appreciation The Maine are eager to show their fans.
During their several stops on the Vans Warped Tour this past summer, The Maine put their own unique spin on the meet and greet process. They set up a tent that read, “Why would you pay money to meet a human being?” at each tour stop, allowing fans to meet them at no cost. While fans of other bands arrived to the festival grounds early to pay for meet and greet access, fans of The Maine lined up at the band’s booth for free pictures and conversation. It proved to be a popular motion, as the turn out for their meet-up’s pulled in a line that was usually over an hour long. Nonetheless, the guys did their best at every venue to talk with as many fans as time permitted.
As the band revealed the dates for their upcoming headlining tour, they obtain these same principles by announcing that there will be no meet and greet packages for sale. The Maine is promising similar efforts to meet the fans after shows for free as they did during Warped.
It’s tremendously commendable for a band to display this kind of attitude during this day and age, where artists globally are charging egregious amounts of money to have a picture with them. Sure, this quirky little alternative group is not selling out Madison Square Garden or achieving the kind of epic fame that many artists who rake it in through VIP packages do. But a mentality like this is a stepping stone to a humble future. The Maine stay grounded through their small-scale success, and they love knowing who they owe it to.
