Denver, CO-area resident Nathen Maxwell, the bass player for Flogging Molly [ tickets ], is proud to be an American. The night before an interview with LiveDaily, he was in the crowd for presidential candidate Barack Obama's speech at Invesco Field in Denver on the closing night of the Democratic National Convention.

"Last night, it was just really peaceful," Maxwell said. "I didn't see any agro at all. Everyone was there for the same reason. Everyone was stoked to be there. It's a moment in history that we should be proud of. It's a step forward for the civil rights movement. The fact that it was 45 years to the date from when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his, 'I Have a Dream' speech ... I thought it was a really beautiful event. I think that was the sentiment for most people."

The field where the Denver Broncos play was filled with energy, Maxwell said.

"People were hooting and hollering, waving their flags. I gotta tell ya, for the first time in my life, I was waving an American flag and feeling proud to be an American. For me, that was really a unique experience. Today, I'm wearing my 9-11 New York Police Department Gaelic Football Club jersey. I'm pumped up."

Maxwell and the rest of his band are on a short break before they reassemble for a US tour that includes club and festival shows. The itinerary is below. Besides watching Obama, Maxwell has spent his break writing new material for the follow-up to March's "Float."

"I've been writing a lot, as much as I can," he said. "I assume that everyone on their own time is writing here and there. We're still very much excited about our new album, which just came out in March. We're still looking forward to actually pulling some new songs off the album that we haven't played live yet. We're focusing on that, moreso than worried about writing a new album. Writing comes as it comes, for me at least. I have a hard time sitting down and making myself do it. If it comes to you, it comes to you."

Maxwell said his ambition is to pull together a new set list that's different from one the band has been using.

"I want to play some new material off the new album and maybe some songs off the older albums that we haven't played in a long time," Maxwell said. "Just mix it up a bit. Have fun with it, that's what I'm looking forward to."