The Get Up Kids, one of my favorite indie rock meets second wave emo bands, killed it at a reunion show at the Blender Theatre to a crowd that seemed quick to forgive the fact that they broke up in 2005, leaving us all broken-hearted, confused, and unwilling to accept the reality. There was an “unconfirmed opener” that the secretive venue people claimed was some band called “Matzah Balls,” and even the PR rep at Vagrant Records refused to tell me who it would be.
We sensed the phony band name only hid an inevitably great surprise. Rumors swirled about it being Face to Face (or any comparable punk band in town for the next day’s Bamboozle Festival), but it ended up being Brand New! Everyone went nuts for them, as we grew even hungrier for The Get Up Kids to take the stage. They were greeted with the loudest screams I’ve heard in a while.
Playing a mix of old and new, it was a great show for old and new fans alike, since I’m fairly certain any type of fan probably went home happy to hear at least one of their favorite songs. They were admittedly rusty but no one seemed to care or notice. You could tell their hardcore fans were in the house since not only did everyone know every word to every song, but they insisted on singing along almost as loudly as the band. In fact, lead singer Matt Pryor stopped every now and then to let the audience finish a song or belt out a chorus.
There was crowd surfing and a pseudo pit to my right that slightly irritated me (either because it truly was annoying or I was annoyed with myself and the pending fact that I may be “getting too old for this.” I’m embarrassed to admit the latter is probably more likely.) Honestly, none of that even mattered because I was so happy to be there. It was an incredible night and lead to lots of post-show gushing about G.U.K. with equally obsessed friends. Their set rekindled my love for this band and I’ve been listening to Something To Write Home About non-stop ever since. Oh, and I’m proud to say that I’ll never outgrow or be too old for The Get Up Kids.
Set List:
Coming Clean
Action and Action
The One You Want
Valentine
Holiday
Woodson
Never Be Alone
Red Letter Day
Up On The Roof
Campfire Kansas
Holy Roman
Mass Pike
No Love
I’m A Loner Dottie, A Rebel
I’ll Catch You
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Close To Me
Don’t Hate Me
Ten Minutes
Walking On A Wire
The Get-Up Kids: website | myspace
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[...] my feature to the incredible Get Up Kids because I could not contain my excitement at seeing them play a reunion show at the Blender Theatre in New York City. Well, the show was amazing, the set was [...]
[...] a number of instantly sold out reunion shows across the country, including at New York City’s Blender Theatrer, the Get Up Kids have confirmed a full U.S. tour. The tour will kick off September 11th at [...]