Roughly 10 years after the ill-fated tour that led to PUP’s blockbuster record The Dream Is Over, the Toronto punk foursome reunited once again with longtime friend and collaborator Jeff Rosenstock on the A CATACLYSMIC RAPTURE OF FRIENDSHIPNESS Tour. On a quasi-balmy evening, amidst a backdrop of illegal gestapo snatchings and self-fellating authoritarian propaganda, the rabble rousing troubadours descended upon The Anthem in southwest DC, determined to bring diversion and dissent to a community in dire need of it.
Hometown heroes Ekko Astral, a noise rock trio led by goddess Jael Holzman, set the tone for the night with their “mascara mosh” sound on Sept. 12, blessing the rabid crowd with blistering sonic missives. Once they wrapped up their seven or eight tunes, it was time for Jeff and the boys to come out.
Stream a playlist of songs performed by Jeff Rosenstock at the Anthem on Sept. 12 via Spotify:
Right off the bat, the band ratcheted up the energy to 11, and never slowed down or looked back. Rosenstock, a music veteran whose projects have included ska punk bands The Arrogant Sons of Bitches and Bomb the Music Industry!, also founded Quote Unquote, the first purely donation-based record label. His touring band consists of a plethora of talented multi-instrumentalists, and they blasted through their 20-song, roughly one hour set with a technical prowess that has come to be expected from Rosenstock performances. With only five musicians up on stage, they delivered a wall of sound that incorporated lots of different harmonies and instruments…saxophone solos, anyone?!
The band started the night with “Rainbow,” an upbeat, ska-influenced tune off Jeff’s critically acclaimed second studio album, WORRY. The vast majority of the night’s set were songs off this record, including a neat little Side B medley halfway through their act. Being a prolific writer, Rosenstock’s performance of course featured tunes off many of his other releases, like POST-, NO DREAM, HELLMODE, and his Covid-19 project, 2020 DUMP, which he composed with the help of old bandmate Laura Stevenson.
Rosenstock’s signature sound, fine-tuned over the decades playing in ska bands and rooted in high-energy, major chord structures, belies a darker thematic content, often focused around self-doubt, existential fears, and yes, the political uncertainty we’re currently living in this, the stupidest of timelines. Indeed, blistering, noisy anthems like “FUTURE IS DUMB” and “The Fuzz” increasingly put a fine point on Jeff’s views of head-scratchingly contentious topics like climate change, police brutality and racial injustice.
The intensity of the crowd was palpable, and reached a crescendo towards the end of the set, when the more enthusiastic audience members erupted into a circle pit during Rosenstock’s crowd favorite, “Festival Song.”
With half of the co-headline night over, it was time for the final solo band…more on that later.
PUP was up.
Stream a playlist of songs performed by PUP at the Anthem on Sept. 12 via Spotify:
Hailing from Ontario, Canada, PUP has been a staple in the punk rock community ever since they burst into the scene with their 2013 debut self-titled record. In what is one of the most Canadian things I’ve ever heard, this album was actually recorded with the financial support of the Canadian government, and still contains some of their most memorable tunes, including songs like “Reservoir” and “Dark Days,” both of which they performed at the Anthem.
PUP, known for their stage presence and technical skill, didn’t disappoint. Flowing seamlessly through hit after hit, including bangers like “DVP,” “Morbid Stuff,” and “Kids”, the guys kept the energy up through the entire performance. They focused most of the night on performing songs off their latest record, 2025’s Who Will Look After the Dogs? Coincidentally, this album features Jeff Rosenstock on one of the songs….more on that later!! This album really sees PUP go back to a more stripped-down, bare bones production. With their previous couple of records showcasing complex arrangements, with wall-to-wall harmonies and more instrumentation, fearless leader Stefan Babcock desired to put more focus on the spirit and energy of their abilities as a live band.
It’s not surprising that the four dudes in PUP, who are all OG founding members, are so tight….some of their interpersonal histories stretch back all the way to third grade, and they honed their craft together with surgical precision during high school and beyond.
Well, with PUP done, wrapping up their set with their hard hitting final ballad off the new record, the night looked to be done. Nope. DOUBLE BAAAAAND
Stream a playlist of songs performed by DOUBLE BAAAAAAAND at the Anthem on Sept. 12 via Spotify:
That’s right, Jeff Rosenstock and the boys joined PUP on stage for a communal performance. And this wasn’t some half assed ‘heeeey let’s get everyone up here and play a couple songs’ – no no no, they had a whole ritualist flag-raising, set to the Space Odyssey theme, of a ransom-note-esque banner featuring a duct tape scrawled “Double Band.” Very official stuff.
The five song encore revolved around “Get Dumber,’ which is the new PUP track that features Jeff Rosenstock as a co-vocalist, and a song which Babcock wrote while house-sitting for Jeff. The other tunes included some Rosenstock and PUP material that the musicians doubled up on, and executed wondrously. To end the night, they invited Ekko Astral on stage (TRIPLE BAAAAAAAAAAND) to perform a hastily put-together cover of Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.” Overall, the brief, collaborative encore was a very fun way to end a very fun night.
If this tour doesn’t kill them…I think they’ll be just fine.
