The Get Up Kids Celebrate 25 Years of “Something To Write Home About” in Chicago
Last Thursday, Kansas City, Missouri legends The Get Up Kids completed night one of two at Chicago’s very own Metro to celebrate 25 years of their genre-defining album “Something To Write Home About”. It was a home stretch on their 30 date tour spanning over the last 2 months, before wrapping it all up at Best Friends Forever festival in Las Vegas. They brought along with them hometown heroes Smoking Popes, a punk outfit from Chicago.
I had last seen The Get Up Kids at a surprise show at the Cobra Lounge last year, with The Starting Line playing along with them, and while the set-list that night was nothing short of incredible, I was stoked to see them perform their iconic album in full at the Metro that night. It’s safe to say they didn’t disappoint. The album, which turned 25 years old just last month, has seen a deluxe re-release that included an entire remaster of the record, as well as some previously unseen demos from the era. It was clear the band was stoked, guitarist Jim Suptic making note on how it’s been 25 years since the album has released, thanking the audience for spending the night with them, and how he hopes that 25 years from now they’ll still be playing, before bursting into the opening track “Holiday”.
The band sounded remarkable. Vocalist Matt Pryor’s voice had gone out the night before, requiring the band to cancel their Minneapolis date of the tour. However, he sounded incredible in Chicago, sounding exactly like the record he recorded 25 years before. The rest of the band was in high spirits, bassist Rob Pope leaning into the audience, and jumping around with guitarist Jim Suptic.
The band displayed a sharp execution of the album-play. Weaving into the slower songs like “Valentine” and “Out of Reach” between tracks like “Red Letter Day” and “Ten Minutes” smoothly. The audience was loving every second of it. Once the band had reached the fan-favorite track “I’m a Loner Dottie, a Rebel”, the room had exploded in excitement, a wave of people in the center of the audience bouncing up and down, singing word-for-word with Pryor, as if the record had just released this year.
Once the album play was done, the band treated Chicago to a handful of songs off a variety of other albums, including tracks off their debut album “Four Minute Mile” like “Better Half” and “Don’t Hate Me”, and even deep-cuts like “Woodson”.
All-in-all, The Get Up Kids brought an amazing night to the audience, and I can only imagine that night 2 of the tour will be just as incredible. The band proved themselves as still a band to write home about, just like the title of the album they celebrated that night at the Metro in Chicago.
