Holy moly. This is one of the top 10 gigs I will ever see.
It was an in store appearance for PUP’s latest record, with a performance in a stage area that held no more than a couple hundred, if that. It was out of the ordinary for the band as well, getting to mix up the set list and play straight through parts for Morbid Stuff.
Seriously, this gig blew my mind:
Now, band’s like PUP rely more and more on touring as a means of paying themselves, where in the past, album sales were the immediate means of how a band made money. While record store performances and signings are nothing new, PUP’s performance at Rough Trade felt like a rare chance to see a band in a setting that they’ve had to leave behind with their success. The stage in the Live Room at Rough Trade, for those that haven’t been, allows for a more traditional gig instead of what usually happens in record stores: the staff pushing all the racks to one side and the band cramming in next to the cash register.
When the Canadian punk-rock four-piece from Toronto took the stage and, initially, joked about the intimate feel of the venue, they were transparent in letting the crowd know that the set would be slightly shorter than normal and consist of the first half of their third album, Morbid Stuff, and a handful of songs from earlier albums. The more they thrashed through the title track, ‘Kids’, ‘Free at Last’ and the rest of the opening half of the album, the band opened up about how special a performance like this was.
the sounds in my head... 