Since forming in Tempe, Arizona in 2007, The Maine have travelled far and wide, playing their brand of alternative/pop-rock all over the place. Sequentially, it’s safe to say the quintet have done their fair share of touring.
Like a lot of bands, The Maine have spent many hours in a van with plenty of time to kill. Some folk choose to sleep, some decide to read, but for The Maine, their find satisfaction in playing video games.
As they return to the UK in support of their sixth record, ‘Lovely Little Lonely’, guitarists Jared Monaco and Kennedy Brock have compiled a list of their five favourite video games to play while on tour.
Some of these games we waited patiently for, counting down the days until their release. Others we just found on the bus and learned to love. Either way, it certainly makes for a good time when it’s raining in the UK and you don’t have to be on stage for another 5 hours.
1. FIFA
Whether or not you like the actual sport, there is NO question that almost any real life argument can be settled by picking up a controller and obliterating your good friend with a well-placed corner kick. I’d say for us FIFA is a fantastic way to assert dominance over your good buddy. It’s not necessarily our number 1 go-to game, but anytime we’re on tour in the UK, you can be sure we’re going to pick up a copy and play late into the night.
2. Mario Kart 8
So tour just became a lot more exciting thanks to the Nintendo Switch. Airplanes, vans, buses, venues, doesn’t matter, if you have a switch, it’s on. Right now we’re on tour with our buddies in Night Riots and there are about 6 switches on the bus. There really is no better feeling than knowing the guy sitting next to you is about to cry when that blue shell costs him the race.
3. EA Sports Fight Night
Another fantastic game for blowing off some steam on tour. We actually found a copy on the bus a few tours ago in the UK. Instead of punching your actual friend in the face, grab a controller and do it without causing long-term strain on your friendship. Really fun to create a character with everyone in the room yelling to make his forehead bigger or his ears lower. We named our character “Gadupi” and he was probably the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen, but Gadupi went on to win the title, so who’s laughing now?
4. Fallout 3
The first time everyone got really excited about a long-winded adventure game on the bus was Fallout 3, unofficially dubbed “Find Dad”. We got a lot of enjoyment out of this game and even guys on the bus who didn’t care to play, enjoyed watching the single player adventure. We spent most of that UK tour inching toward the end of the game and it was really fun to beat it before we had to fly back home.
5. Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Another insanely fun game that came out this year. Between Kennedy and I (Jared) we have logged hours and hours exploring and comparing our progress. As a life-long fan of Zelda, I was so happy to see that Zelda was now open-world and with so much depth. I’m still finding new areas and having fun every time I turn it on. It definitely makes long drives or flights a piece of cake.
‘Lovely Little Lonely’ by The Maine is out now on 8123.
The Maine are currently touring the UK and Europe. Support comes from Night Riots and The Technicolors.
September
14th Thekla, Bristol
15th KOKO Camden, London
16th Club Academy, Manchester
17th O2 Institute 2, Birmingham
18th The Haunt, Brighton
20th Melkweg, Amsterdam
23rd Lido, Berlin
24th Gebäude 9, Cologne
25th Markthalle, Hamburg
27th Backstage By The Mill, Paris
29th Sala Boveda, Barcelona
30th Sala Caracol, Madrid
