There’s nothing quite like a band playing an anniversary tour to make you feel as youthful as you do old, but for nascent and veteran fans of US pop punk outfit Mayday Parade, it was these concepts felt in equal measure as they kicked off their latest Australian tour.

Having first founded the group in Tallahassee, Florida back in 2005, this year is a big one for the celebrated quintet who launched their Three Cheers For 20 Years tour back in April. Embarking upon the largely retrospective trek, the band have been intent on honouring where they came from while giving fans a taste of what was still to come.

For Australia – where the group have been constant visitors, having toured 11 times since their first jaunt in 2007 – their turn was in September, with Mayday Parade hitting the ground for a the biggest run of headline shows for their career by kicking off with a show at Margaret Court Arena.

Launching proceedings for the evening was Seattle pop punk outfit The Home Team, whose youthful energy and bombastic productions set the tone for what was to come.

Led by the charismatic Brian Butcher, focus on the quartet is often stolen by guitarist John Baran and Ryne Olson, whose synchronised spins and high kicks are enough to make The Rockettes blush.

Tight instrumentation, paradoxically-heavy riffs, and impassioned vocals quickly won over the crowd, largely thanks to tunes such Brag, Loud, and Worthy – all taken from their 2024 album The Crucible Of Life.

Even as their nine-song set came to an end with no sign of their energy wavering, a few selections from their 2021 release Slow Bloom (including Move It Or Lose It and the almost singsong-like Watching All Your Friends Get Rich) helped turn newcomers into new fans – though some may say they’re still spinning and high-kicking to this day.

The midway point of the evening was a triumphant moment for many fans of the alternative and pop rock scene, with the grand return of Jack’s Mannequin. Fronted by Andrew McMahon and founded during the final years of his earlier group Something Corporate, it was the first time on local shores in 13 years for the project, who broke up at the end of 2012, and only reunited in earnest in 2024.

Fans of Mayday Parade would undoubtedly recognise a bit of overlap in the McMahon fandom, with the group’s 2017 tour featuring frontman Derek Sanders covering Something Corporate’s Punk Rock Princess, and later including it on his 2020 My Rock And Roll Heart covers EP.

Understandably, Jack’s Mannequin’s arrival was one of some slight reverence, given the impact of McMahon’s work over the years and the fact that their debut album, Everything In Transit, celebrated its own 20th anniversary just last month.

As a result, the group were quick to dip into a set featuring plenty of their classics, including a solid showing of Everything In Transit. Kicking off with classics such as Bruised, The Resolution, and The Mixed Tape, McMahon stole focus for most of the set, alternating between sitting at his piano, standing at the instrument, or animatedly making his way around the stage.

A comfortable and accomplished performer, it was clear that his focus was less on delivering the perfect performance an instead connecting with the crowd, allowing his celebrated songwriting to speak to each and every person gathered before him.

Sadly, save for a modest representation of diehards, it felt as though Jack’s Mannequin’s discography and McMahon's influence on the genre were somewhat lost on the majority of those in attendance, with the crowd seeming at their most sedate for the night.

It clearly didn’t bother McMahon or detract from his performance, with classic tunes such as Dark Blue and La La Lie closing out the set as he both knocked over his piano stool and attacked his piano with it, proving that showmanship is far from a thing of the past.

As Mayday Parade took to the stage, it was clear they weren’t determined to just deliver a standard set. Launching their appearance with a 2008 interview from their time on the Warped Tour, the group’s youthful innocence was contrasted with their years of growth, evolution, and maturity, further underlined by opening their set with By The Way, one of the many songs released this year.

Soon though, it was time to open the archives and take a trip through their musical history. Pairing their songs with era-appropriate graphics, Mayday Parade went right back to their earliest releases by focusing on their 2006 EP Tales Told By Dead Friends, bringing out Just Say You’re Not Into It and Three Cheers For Five Years – the first song they wrote and the namesake for their anniversary tour.

2007’s A Lesson In Romantics understandably got the biggest focus, with the likes of Jersey and Miserable At Best receiving rapturous applause. For the latter, drummer Jake Bundrick leaned on his adopted role as backing vocalist, duetting with Sanders given the departure of co-founding vocalist Jason Lancaster following the release of the record.

While Anywhere But Here received a favourable look-in, Mayday Parade were quick to ensure that the set wasn’t one focused on nostalgia entirely, delivering the tracks with the sort of energy and precision that could only have been accrued through years spent refining the songs before adoring crowds at every turn.

As the 2010s’ material came into focus, the set began to speed up, with the group’s self-titled effort, 2013’s Monsters In The Closet, and 2015’s Black Lines (arguably one of their heaviest, most visceral, and most underrated records) each receiving a mention by way of just a singular song.

With The Home Team’s Brian Butcher returning to help Sanders out with One Of Them Will Destroy The Other, the set swiftly ran through their recent albums so as to go full circle with a rendition of 2024’s Pretty Good To Feel Something.

Despite Mayday Parade’s two decades in the game, it’s clear they’ve never lost that youthful energy and desire to simply take to the stage to have fun. As their 2008 Warped Tour interview returned to the screens, guitarist Alex Garcia laughed off his fresh-faced attempts at answering hard-hitting questions, while fellow guitarist Brooks Betts (who recently turned 40) jokingly shrugged away his earlier comments of doubting he’d still be playing in the band as he entered his fourth decade.

Closing out the night by returning to their earliest releases with One Man Drinking Games and standard set finisher Jamie All Over, the deafening roar of applause proved that even 20 years into their career, Mayday Parade are showing no signs of slowing down.

In fact, with more than 4,000 fans in the audience at the start of their biggest Australian headline run to date, it feels as if Mayday Parade are only now getting started. Who knows where things will be in another 20 years, but you can bank on their fans remaining as dedicated as they’ve ever been.