We’re now a year into the pandemic which also means a whole year without attending a gig. Towards the end of 2020, I decided to take a look back at some memories of live shows with a few of my favourite bands. Well I enjoyed writing them and at least a few of you said you enjoyed reading them so I’ve brought it back for season 2! Here’s a look back at better days with PUP.
Birmingham – 2017
It’s safe to say that PUP are one of my favourite bands right now so it’s quite fitting that I was introduced to them by another of my favourites. The Wonder Years brought them to the UK as main support in an incredible lineup which also featured Trash Boat and Tiny Moving Parts. It didn’t take me long to become a fan while listening to them leading up to the gig and I wasn’t the only one. I remember a bearded drunk man turn to me in the crowd before PUP came on and telling me that he also had only recently started listening to them and we both agreed we liked the range of their punk/indie sound. They didn’t disappoint with their set and I now had a new favourite Canadian band (sorry Seaway).
Reading Festival – 2019
2019 saw the release of a third album ‘Morbid Stuff’ which gained PUP a lot of momentum and I was naturally very excited to hear the new songs live at Reading Festival. As my friends all waited to see Royal Blood on the main stage, I departed on my own adventure to the pit stage like an emo Bilbo Baggins but I wasn’t alone there for long. The tent filled rapidly and it was only after the deafening singalongs and bubbling pits during this set that I appreciated how popular this band had become. It felt like a very quick progression from chatting with a drunk bearded man about them to now a whole tent bouncing to their songs.
Bristol & Southampton – 2019
PUP soon returned to the UK to end what for them had been several months on the road. Living in the south of England means usually London is the only option for seeing bands from outside the UK but PUP left us with a choice to make between Bristol and Southampton. We felt it would be easier just to do both. First up was a trip to SWX in Bristol, a medium sized club venue with about 1000 in the crowd which was enough for the vocalist, Stefan, to pull off a successful crowd walk which he had apparently been trying unsuccessfully over the duration of the tour.
Flash forward a few days and we are in completely different surroundings. The Loft in Southampton holds less than half as many people as SWX and has no barrier. This teamed up with the fact it was the final night of tour and the band had to set out an early disclaimer that they had enjoyed a good few drinks before their set made a perfect mix for a punk show. There was crowd surfing, stage diving, sweat, spilled beers, singalongs, finger pointing and all the other good stuff I miss immensely about live music. There was even a moment where the lights failed (Stefan knocked them loose while crowdsurfing) and seeing the rest of the set out in complete darkness was considered. All of these ingredients make it one of my favourite and most memorable gigs ever.
Check out instagram below to see some extra footage from some of these shows and while you’re there, why not let me know your PUP memories?
You can hear some more gig memories from myself, James and Alex on the latest episode of The Ragamuffin Music Podcast.
The Birdbox 