Connect with us

Hardcore/Punk

PUP (w/ Cloud Nothings, PINKSHIFT) Slams a Sold-Out Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH [Photos]

PUP recently hit Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH, with support from Cloud Nothings and PINKSHIFT. Zane Brammell captured the high-energy fun!

Published

on

PUP returns to the United States on their “PUP RETURNS: THANK FUCKING GOD” tour with support from Cloud Nothings and PINKSHIFT.

I caught them in Columbus, Ohio, where the bands performed to a sold-out crowd of 1700 in the well-known Newport Music Hall. Upon arriving at the venue, the line to get in was down the street and wrapped around the block.

PINKSHIFT (Baltimore, MD) proved a solid opening act—chanting charged lyrics from stage to a crowd mostly screaming back at them. Pausing briefly between songs to discuss their lyrical meaning, the band managed to effectively force the crowd into a frenzied state during several moments of their performance. Though their set was short-lived, the energy they enveloped carried the crowd through the remainder of the night.

Ohio’s own, Cloud Nothings played loud and fast to an amped crowd clearly basking in that “hometown” warmth. I was pleasantly surprised to see them. I had listened to them on several occasions, but to see them perform live is a unique experience.

As lights dimmed for PUP to make their way to the stage the crowd erupted in a roar louder than the amps playing the band’s intro music. The group’s transition from the soft-spoken keys-driven ballad “Four Chords” into the energetic explosion of lead guitarist Steve Sladkowski’s intro on “Totally Fine” resulted in an eruption from the pit. As the band barreled through the chords, the crowd screamed along to the lyrics of the chorus (“Lately I’ve started to feel like I’m slowly dying/ and if I’m being real I don’t even mind/ whether I’m at my worst or I’m totally fine”) word for word as if anthemic.

While pausing periodically for the band to catch their breath and switch instruments, it was apparent the crowd would seldom rest. Lead singer Stefan Babcock, at one point, made jokes about the crowd surfers crossing the threshold of the barricade even during these rather quiet-ish moments. The group’s most recent single, “Matilda,” an ode to Babcock’s well-loved guitar, ended with a surprise cover of The Eagles’ “Hotel California” performed as a glorious shred-fest outro.

To end the show, Stefan Babcock announced the band would not be performing an encore, stating they were “fucking stupid,” instead suggesting they would remain on stage, hidden behind their instruments, while the crowd could chant for them to return to play their final two songs—most effectively closing the night with their ever-popular single, “Kids.”

What do PUP fans call themselves? PUPPIES? PUPPETS? Never mind the nicknames, catch PUP on tour this Spring as they push across America in support of their new record, THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND.

PUP (w/ Cloud Nothings, PINKSHIFT) at Newport Music Hall (Columbus, OH) on April 2, 2022

PUP Setlist:

1. Four Chords
2. Totally Fine
3. Free At Last
4. My Life Is Over and I Couldn’t Be Happier
5. See You At Your Funeral
6. Sleep In The Heat
7. Dark Days
8. Matilda
9. If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will
10. DVP
11. Scorpion Hill
12. Rot
13. Robot Writes A Long Song
14. Reservoir
15. Edmonton
16. Waiting
17. Familiar Patterns
18. Morbid Stuff
19. Kids

Trending