At King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, on the 6th September 2016.
Brazen, Canadian punks PUP rightly take the stage for their first headline tour this side of the Atlantic this month.
They have previously supported pop punk’s front runners, Modern Baseball and The Front Bottoms, with those slots being beneficial by way of reach – as their Tuts show was teaming with people.
The old Glaswegian battle chant of “here we, here we fucking go,” is rang out in the lead up to the band hitting the stage.
Firing straight into ‘If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, Then I Will’ from their latest release, The Dream Is Over, is enough to get the already hyped crowd to go into overdrive.
Following the line: “if this tour doesn’t kill you then buddy, I’m on it,” the guitars, bass, drums and vocals all kick in to give a mighty punch and it’s so, so awesome.
From then on, a ferocious energy is banded back between the band the crowd.
The connection is so compelling that at one point, singer Stefan Babcock cranes himself and his guitar out to the barrier and over of the front of the crowd.
Playing songs mostly from TDIO, but not neglecting their last and well loved self titled album, songs like ‘Dark Days’ and ‘Reservior’ go down a treat.
Not that I was around for it, but this feels like old fashioned punk rock — or, what’s I think it’s supposed to feel like.
It’s playing with all your heart, it’s straining your voice until it hurts, it’s relentlessly touring in a transit van.
They embody what’s great about new bands and music in general, and I mean it when I say that PUP are one of the best rock bands around right now.
