An Evening with The Maine: "The Tour Next Door" Opens at Tucson’s Historic La Rosa

The Maine have played just about every kind of room Arizona has to offer. From early shows in small clubs around the Valley to hometown nights at The Van Buren and their own 8123 Fest, nearly two decades of the band’s history can be traced through venues across the state.

On August 20, they added a considerably different room to that list when The Tour Next Door arrived at La Rosa in Tucson, a new venue operating inside the chapel of the city’s historic former Benedictine Monastery.

La Rosa opened as a music venue in October 2025 following a multimillion-dollar restoration of the former chapel, which dates back to 1940. Much of the architecture was preserved in the conversion, including the arches and high ceilings that once framed the chapel, while the roughly 700-person room was rebuilt for concerts.

For a tour taking The Maine back into smaller venues, Tucson offered something different from the clubs and theaters the band has played throughout Arizona over the years. This time, a former church became the setting for opening night.

Opening the evening was hellogoodbye, whose history stretches back nearly as far as the night’s headliner. Forrest Kline and company pulled from different periods of the band’s career, including early favorites “All Time Lows” and “Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn” alongside “(Everything Is) Debatable.” “Here (In Your Arms)” brought one of the biggest singalongs of the opening set, more than 20 years after hellogoodbye first emerged from the Southern California scene.

Then came The Maine, and the opening QUIET portion of the show lived up to its name. “Bad Behavior” started the set before “Into Your Arms” reached back to the band’s earliest years. “Funny How?” and “These Four Words” followed, alongside a cover of Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One.” Inside the former chapel, the stripped-down arrangements carried through a room normally accustomed to hearing The Maine with considerably more volume behind them.

Tucson was also the first audience to hear some of what The Maine have been working on next. “And Then” received its live debut during the quieter half of the night, arriving among songs fans had already spent years singing back to the band. “How to Exit a Room” finished the first section before Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” came over the speakers and marked the change from QUIET to LOUD.

The second half began with another first as “Half a Spark” made its live debut. “I Think About You All the Time” and “Numb Without You” followed before “Die To Fall” continued the run of newer material. From there, the set moved across the band’s history, with “I Must Be Dreaming” reaching back to Can’t Stop Won’t Stop before “Identify,” “Sticky” and “Touch” brought the room through several different versions of The Maine.

That range has become increasingly noticeable as the band approaches two decades together. Songs written by a group barely out of high school now share the same set with music recorded more than 15 years later, and Tucson heard plenty from both ends. “Dose No. 2” led into “Loved You a Little,” “Palms” and “Slip the Noose,” while “3:31” became the third song of the evening to receive its live debut.

The setting remained one of the more memorable details of the night. Arizona fans have seen The Maine squeezed onto tiny stages, headlining theaters, and playing in front of thousands at their own festival, but La Rosa added another entry to that history. The preserved chapel naturally suited the stripped-down beginning of the show before guitars and drums filled the same high-ceilinged room during LOUD. It was a rare Arizona setting for a band that has already played seemingly everywhere around its home state.

The final stretch brought “Like We Did (Windows Down)” and “Am I Pretty?” before “Black Butterflies and Déjà Vu” finished the night. Across more than two hours, the format gave The Maine room for acoustic arrangements, full-band favorites, a cover and three live debuts. It also gave Tucson the first look at how The Tour Next Door will work as it moves into the rest of its run.