We all take art for granted. Art can question, overwhelm, punish, and heal. It can answer questions you didn’t know you had. And in the case of PUP and Jeff Rosenstock’s A CATACLYSMIC RAPTURE OF FRIENDSHIPNESS!!! tour, it can challenge your own preconceived notions of an artist themselves. Although both acts are known for frenetic and wholesome live shows, neither artists’ music is exactly known for being upbeat. But this tour, which hit Roadrunner on Monday, September 15th, was all about optimism and good times. To say it was a rousing success is to put it mildly.
Up first on the night was Ekko Astral, the excellent and absurdly critically-acclaimed rock band out of Washington D.C. Although their music is not as raucous as that of the double-headliner, it was a perfect fit as an opener. Astral got the crowd thrashing and set the tone for a tightrope night of political anger but positive community. It helps that a significant portion of the crowd was excited for Astral, too, coming early and already knowing the songs. It also helped that the band managed to pull off a massive Wall of Death for the crowd on the floor. The band mostly played cuts from their 2024 debut pink balloons, but ended with three new ones, including “Capital Riot.” As a one night only surprise, they brought out Pudding favorites Perennial to sing along, bringing that Perennial energy along with them.
DIY punk legend Jeff Rosenstock was on next, and you can never know what he’s going to play on any given night with very few exceptions. On that night, it was a pretty even split, as Jeff and company played three songs from each of his five proper solo albums (SKA DREAM was left untouched). He also tossed in early solo classic “Twinkle” and one Bomb the Music Industry! song, “Future 86.” For any fellow BTMI!-heads, even just one song getting played is a revelation. But on a night where bands were constantly coming together, it made sense, as the tune has a huge group-singalong chorus. The show was predictably raucous, with the whole band careening across stage while playing wild tunes like “You, In Weird Cities” and “Liked U Better.” Rosenstock also did an improv rewrite of 2020 hit “Scram!” to wish bassist John DeDomenici a happy birthday, which caught John off-guard. (I’ve now seen this crew so many times that this was my second John DeDomenici birthday show). Rosenstock has no new material since his last tour, so his inclusion here was just a no-stakes, high-energy play-the-hits set, and the crowd at Roadrunner loved every second of it. He yet again cemented himself as a leading live artist.
Unlike Rosenstock, PUP does have new material: their great, newly released fifth album Who Will Look After the Dogs?. The Toronto indie-punk group played six songs off the album, including set opener “Hunger For Death,” “Concrete” and “Hallways.” They played at least one cut from each of their previous four albums, including crowd favorites “Kids,” “Scorpion Hill,” and “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will,” with singer Stefan Babcock joking that he no longer shares that song’s sentiment. The venn diagram of PUP and Rosenstock fans is pretty much one circle, so the fans were just as excited for PUP and kept their energy going. The true focus of the night stayed on friendship, which quickly became comical during “Hunger,” which has the lyric “Fuck everyone in this venue, especially me,” as Babcock gave a double bird to the fans. But later on, Babcock took a minute to address how wholesome it is to sing such pessimistic lyrics yet be able to get a full 3000+ crowd together to chant for trans rights and a free Palestine. The band’s set was more grounded than Rosenstock’s, but just as energetic and fun. In light of, and in spite of everything, this show was purely optimistic and communal.
Late in the set, Babcock started a solo rendition of “Shut Up” before a crudely-made banner reading “DOUBLE BAND” was hung behind him. All of PUP and Jeff Rosenstock’s band came out to do four songs – “Hey Allison!” and “We Begged 2 Explode” by Rosenstock, and “Get Dumber” and “Reservoir” by PUP. Finally, they brought Ekko Astral back out for a triple band version of Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.” It was pure chaos, as Babcock and Rosenstock did microphone tricks while the Astral folks threw themselves around the stage. The three bands managed to make the song feel like an inside joke that everyone in the crowd was in on, an incredible end to a night centered on community. As the bands left the stage, “I Love It” was pumped through the speakers and probably 100 people stayed behind for a dance party. Music can keep us sane, and we all need nights like this to remind us that love will always win.
Check out all of the photos from the show below!
