Review: Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness @ Empire Live

Empire Live presents: Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, May 16th, 2023, in Albany, NY

Words and photos by: Chantel Malin

On Tuesday, May 16, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness brought an electrifying performance to Empire Live in Albany, New York. The show began with a gorgeous, stripped down acoustic set from Griffin William Sherry. Formerly a member of the folk trio The Ghost of Paul Revere, the singer has now ventured out on a brand new solo career - so new, in fact, that he hasn't yet formally recorded any of his songs. Sherry treated the audience to a set of currently unreleased, quiet acoustic jams, with just himself and an acoustic guitar holding concertgoers captive for his half hour set.

Following Sherry's performance, The Unlikely Candidates took the stage for a change of pace. Practically exploding with energy, singer Kyle Morris could hardly stand still for more than a moment, constantly jumping off the stage to interact with the audience. The band played a selection of songs across their discography, with a fun cover of A-Ha's "Take On Me" thrown in for an energetic crowd singalong before leaving the stage.

By the time Andrew McMahon took the stage, the small, 1000-capacity venue was packed and buzzing with anticipation. In true McMahon fashion, always trying to involve his audience, he started the show by slowly making his way to the stage from the back of the venue, wading through the audience while singing "Nobody Tells You When You're Young" and cranking a handheld music box. A song about the opposite of its title - the things people do in fact tell you when you're young, but have to learn for yourself - is one of the tracks on his newest record, Tilt at the Wind No More, which was released this past March 31.

Though the tour is in support of this newest release, McMahon, as always, paid plenty of homage to his incredibly lucrative career of over two decades, launching straight into "The Mixed Tape" once he reached the stage, a high-energy track from Jack's Mannequin's record Everything in Transit. McMahon donned a rainbow light-up cape for "Stars," another new Wilderness tune, followed the classic Something Corporate jam "I Woke Up in a Car." Taking a moment to talk with the audience, he then explained that the next song had been requested before the show by a fan going through a tough time. Given "The Resolution" was written following McMahon's own struggle with leukemia, it was a fitting request. 

The band took us through a few more Wilderness tunes, including "Rainy Girl" and "High Dive" from 2014's self titled record. Before performing "Walking in my Sleep," McMahon thanked the crowd for venturing out so late on a Tuesday night, before telling everyone in the audience that they most definitely should call in sick for work the next day. He followed this with "Last Rites," a "sweet little love song" off of Tilt that speaks to a love so deep and true it transcends the boundaries of time and space.

Andrew then brought us back in time, starting with Something Corporate's "Cavanaugh Park," with a fun twist in the form of references to Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles" dropped in throughout. For "La La Lie," McMahon once again couldn't stop himself from jumping straight into the audience, crowd surfing an inflatable llama through the venue to grab a shot from the venue bar, before heading back to stage to finish the song - one full of foot-stomping singalongs about good friends, and a few impressive harmonica solos. McMahon also reminisced on a previous performance in nearby Clifton Park, in which he was "almost decapitated by a ceiling fan" during his signature inflatable crowd surf. Thankfully, he did not have a repeat of this experience this time. 

The Tilt track "Submarine" came with an interesting backstory. Originally written for McMahon's 2017 record Zombies on Broadway, he found himself unable to sit comfortably with any final mix of the song. Containing the title reference to an album largely written in New York City - a city McMahon has often been quoted saying "kicks his ass every time" - the song uses an underwater city as a metaphor for feeling drowned and overwhelmed, as well the vastness of the ocean's likeness to a love equally as deep, and perhaps as terrifying. McMahon followed the song with "Canyon Moon," another somewhat haunting track, this time from his self-titled record. "Fire Escape," another Wilderness track, brought us back into singalong territory, with "whoa-oh's" filling the room to the brim. 

With McMahon's extensive career comes quite a bit of history. Longtime fans will know the folklore of the infamous Something Corporate track "Konstantine," a nearly ten-minute-long ballad that McMahon scarcely performs due to its impressive length. Though he notably only plays the song once a year on November 11th at his annual Dear Jack Foundation benefit concert - a nod to the lyric "I always catch the clock, it's 11:11" - this doesn't stop fans from blurting requests for it mid-show. Though he didn't fulfill the request, he did inform us that the next song he would perform, "Lying on the Hood of Your Car," was written about a similar time in his life as "Konstantine." He followed this up with "I'm Ready" and "Skywriting," two equally high-energy jams from McMahon's catalog, released years apart - in 2005 and 2023, respectively. "Skywriting," McMahon says, was written with musician K.Flay during "a particularly interesting experience with psychedelics." He discussed the anxiety even after years of releasing music, always wondering if the songs that mean to tmost to him, will also mean as much to the audience - and he is thankful every time his instincts land favorably with his listeners, and also for the times they don't.

McMahon jumped back into the audience for "Punk Rock Princess," a true homage to the Something Corporate days and a treat for his longest fans. Climbing over the railing, he encouraged everyone to just let loose for the next few minutes. He followed this with "Synesthesia," another heavily interactive performance. A signature part of any Wilderness concert, McMahon draped a rainbow parachute over the audience before jumping back in to dance underneath it, before climbing back to the stage and atop his piano to sing out the final call-and-response "woah-oh's" of the song. The band closed the set with the Jack's Mannequin hit "Dark Blue," during which he tossed beach balls into the audience to be tossed back and forth, truly turning the entire room into a party.

For the encore, McMahon gave us a quick storytime about the acoustic Jack's Mannequin track "Restless Dream," from 2011's People & Things. Originally written for a film featuring a certain unnamed actor (that definitely isn't Channing Tatum, according to McMahon), he ended up keeping the song for his own record after the producers had an entirely different vision for it and ultimately chose a different song for the movie. Sitting cross-legged atop his piano accompanied only by guitarist Bobby Raw, McMahon also made sure to tell the audience about a particular riff nicknamed the "Natalie Portman," a running gag in the band that has now become a favorite mid-concert anecdote. The rest of the band came back out to perform audience request "Ohio," followed by final set closer "Cecilia and the Satellite." The biggest song yet of McMahon's lengthy career, the song was penned for his daughter, Cecilia, and remains a favorite part of every show - both due to its sentimental value to McMahon and audience members alike and ts contagious singalong energy. As always, McMahon made sure to sincerely thank the audience before leaving the stage, leaving the entire room with full hearts and a bit more pep in our step for the next day - which we definitely all heeded his words and called in sick for!

Check out the full gallery of Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness below!