If there has been any doubt or concern about the future of punk music, let me reassure you. Punk music is alive and well. PUP might just be the torchbearers, carrying modern punk into the foreseeable future.
PUP headlined at Portland’s Roseland Theater, but not before Screaming Females shook the stage and riled up a nearly sold out crowd. Vocalist Marissa Paternoster, gave a commanding performance, both vocally, and instrumentally. Screaming Females really seemed a bit odd since there was really only one screaming female. Unless of course you count the audience, but then if that was the case, they’d have to just go with screaming since it wasn’t limited to one gender.
When PUP came on stage, the Roseland Theater went wild. Honestly, I’ve never seen bodies moving around so much in this particular venue. From the barricade to the soundboard, it was like a synchronized pulse of movement; a vibration that took over the entire GA floor space. After the third song, lead singer Stefan Babcock noticed that someone was holding up a shoe. After helping re-unite the owner with their lost footwear, he went on to mention that people often lose things at his shows and he reminded everyone that they could find their shit at the bar after the show was over. Another patron was trying to find his glasses. At this point, guitarist Steve Sladkowski offered his advice. While doing his best flight attendant demonstration, pulling his glases off, he explained “You get this silicone strap thing that you put on your glasses that wraps around your head. You can mosh, surf, whatever and you won’t lose your glasses”
The band then broke into “Free At Last” and the crowd resumed their visceral aerobic display.
PUP is on tour through October, finishing up their run at Coachella. If punk music is your thing, or if you’d like to find out what punk is all about, you owe it to yourself to give these guys a shot.
