PUP

Live in San Francisco (2014)

Ricky Frankel

Even before PUP's debut album is released, there is a lot of buzz going around about them. I really wanted to see what they were all about and luckily they were playing at The Milk Bar in Haight-Ashbury on Friday, March 7, 2014.

It turned out that I accidentally showed up about an hour early to the show, which actually turned out to be a good thing because I was able to talk and chill out with the band members for a while. They couldn't have been nicer and more gracious.

Around 10:15PM PUP got up on stage and I have to say it sounded like the band members had been playing together for decades. They played each song so tightly and perfectly that they sounded identical to the recorded versions. They started out by blasting "Guilt Trip" which perfectly set the tone for the rest of the show. The band also played songs like "Mabu," "Lionheart," and "Factories" flawlessly. They had no issue getting a mosh pit started especially when they played "Back Against the Wall," which is truly an incredible track. During one of the other songs Stephan Babcock, the lead vocalist and guitarist, got on top of the drum kit and jumped into the crowd with his guitar still strapped on him and landed on his side on the ground. It was awesome! (He was okay!). PUP ended with what I consider to be their best song, which is called "Reservoir." This song just has such a catchy main guitar riff and chorus and awesome vocals that you can't help but sing along to it. It really got the mosh pit going and I'm pretty sure that they got a bunch of new fans because there was a bunch of people at their merch booth after their performance.

There's something special about PUP. These guys could easily get bigger real soon. If you get a chance to see them on this current North American tour don't hesitate to buy a ticket. You won't be disappointed. If you missed them make sure to catch them next time.

Notes:
The opening band was called Balms, a local psychedelic rock band. The headlining band was Solids and you can check them out here. Both of these bands put on good shows, but I don't think that I know enough about them to be able to review them fairly.

You can see some pictures of the show here