Mar 15

Mar 15 Show Review, Photos: PUP, Joyce Manor Sell Out Night One of Two In San Francisco

PUP
Joyce Manor
w/ Pool Kids
The Regency Ballroom
San Francisco, CA
March 11th, 2023

Review by Andrew Tucker
Photos by Jared Stossel

When you hear about a punk band “selling out,” it’s usually a bad thing; a certain contingent on Reddit is still cringing at that Buzzcocks/AARP commercial 16 years later. But a punk band selling out San Francisco’s Regency Ballroom? That’s a different story—and it’s exactly what happened when Toronto-based punk act PUP rolled into town on a co-headlining run with Joyce Manor and opener Pool Kids on Saturday night.

Saturday was the first of two back-to-back performances at the 1,400-capacity Regency Ballroom, and tickets to the sold-out show were listed for as much as $200 on the secondary market. (Shoutout to the guy who sold my fiancée and me tickets at face value. Thanks, Jonathan…if that is your real name.)

When we pulled up to the venue around 8:00 p.m., there was a short line to get through security (and, thankfully, an even shorter line to grab a beer), but from the moment we passed through the double doors leading into the concert hall, it was clear that PUP and Joyce Manor could fill a room. Just after 8:30, the lights dimmed, and the low rumble of chatter turned to excited applause as members of the four-piece opening act took the stage. It was then that something else became clear: Pool Kids was perfectly capable of drawing a decent crowd on their own.

The Tallahassee, Florida band opened with “That’s Physics, Baby,” arguably the most popular song off their 2022 self-titled album. Their unique mix of technical guitar work (so much tapping), big choruses (think early 2000s Paramore), and cool outfits (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World came to mind) got the crowd going right out of the gate. Despite being relative newcomers to the scene (their first album dropped in 2018), Pool Kids have already done their fair share of touring, opening for bands like The Wonder Years and Into It. Over It. As a result of that early experience on the road, they’ve got a much larger stage presence than you’d expect—enough to compel lobby-dwellers into the room and keep the crowd on their feet through seven tracks. Wrapping up their unexpectedly energetic set with “Talk Too Much,” Pool Kids demonstrated that they’ve got what it takes to move up the bill.

TLDR: Pool Kids’ songs pack much more of a punch live than they do on their records. If they keep playing like they are right now, they’ve got nowhere to go but up.

As the Pool Kids’ banner was lowered and the Joyce Manor banner was raised, more and more people packed into the already-crowded auditorium to watch the co-headliners take the stage. Now, I have been to lots of shows at the Regency Ballroom, and I can confidently say that that moment—just before the lights dimmed once again—was the fullest I’ve ever seen in that room.

As soon as the lights went down, Joyce Manor frontman Barry Johnson launched immediately into “Heart Tattoo” from the band’s 2014 album Never Hungover Again. The floorboards groaned under the weight of 1,400 people jumping up and down at 116 beats per minute. That marked the beginning of a fast-paced, energetic set featuring all the hits from “Beach Community” to “Constant Headache,” as well as the band’s 2011 cover of The Murder City Devils’ track “Midnight Service at the Mutter Museum.”

From the get-go, Joyce Manor played with all the energy you’d expect of such a seasoned touring act (and maybe even more when you consider those guys are around my age). They closed out their 22-song setlist with a rousing rendition of “Catalina Fight Song.” (And, yes, I said 22 songs; you can do that when 90 percent of your songs are less than three minutes long.) By then it was just after 10:00 p.m., and despite a few hopeful chants of “one more song,” the banner came down, the lights came up, and a swarm of sweaty Joyce Manor fans made for the cooler air of the lobby.

TLDR: Joyce Manor packs a ton of songs into a relatively short set. They play them very fast, and they play them very well. You'll have a great time if you even remotely enjoy punk or emo music.

With PUP slated to go on around 10:30 p.m., the Regency Ballroom was in full pre-pandemic form: the floor was sticky, the air was thick with sweat, and the faintest smell of street dogs was wafting in through the open windows on the Van Ness side of the building.

On stage, PUP’s hand-drawn banner—a crudely drawn depiction of the band members and their pets—rose to the rafters. As guitars were being tuned and mics were being checked, a steady stream of people started to make their way back into the auditorium and find their places in the crowd. Soon the lights began to dim for the final time that night, and, looking around the room, I was disappointed to see that about a quarter of the crowd hadn’t returned after Joyce Manor’s set.

To those of you who left: you made a mistake.

Why? Because PUP absolutely ripped. They started off low key (pun intended), with vocalist Steven Babcock plucking out the opening notes of “Four Chords” on a small MIDI keyboard that was set up specifically for that song (and that song only). They picked up the pace right away with “Totally Fine,” another track from their most recent studio album (and fourth full-length release) THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND.

The set continued at a fast pace, but not before Babcock took a moment to lay out some ground rules: have fun, and if someone falls in the pit, pick them up. That ethos was demonstrated a few minutes later when a fan on one side of the pit held up a pair of lost eyeglasses between songs. “Who lost their glasses?” Babcock chuckled into the mic, the crowd cheering as the spectacles were passed back to the wearer on the opposite side of the room. Babcock then said something to the effect of, “Strap in, glasses guy. It only gets more chaotic from here.”

He wasn’t lying.

PUP played song after song, never slowing down longer than it took to chirp out a polite but staccato, “Thanks!” after a handful of tracks (after all, even punks are more polite in Canada). Throughout that time, the band only seemed to grow more and more energetic. Lead guitarist Steve Sladkowksi laid down some impressive riffs, bassist Nestor Chumak whipped his sweaty hair around like he’d been plucked from a stage at Taste of Chaos, and drummer Zack Mykula stayed expertly locked into the beat, even while piping out backing vocals.

But it was Babcock who stole the show; whenever he went more than a few bars without a rhythm guitar part, he’d rip his instrument off and hold it over his head triumphantly before scrambling to get it back on in time for the next verse. For a couple of tracks, he ditched the guitar entirely and went full “frontman.” I almost wish he’d done it more (unlike some lead vocalists who hide behind a guitar, Babcock is quite capable of commanding the stage with or without one).

By the time their set was over, PUP had banged out 17 tracks (including personal favorites “Robot Writes a Love Song” and “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will”). There was no encore (#NormalizeNoEncores), as the band has vowed that they will never partake in such a farcical practice. More power to them.

TLDR: PUP puts on one hell of a live show. They clearly have fun on stage, making it impossible not to have fun in the audience, too. Go see them as soon as you can.

The tour resumes tonight in Seattle, WA. For more information on upcoming shows and purchasing tickets, click here.

PUP Set List
Four Chords
Totally Fine
My Life Is Over and I Couldn’t Be Happier
Guilt Trip
Robot Writes A Love Song
Free At Last
Sleep In The Heat
Habits
Reservoir
Old Wounds
Morbid Stuff
Kids
Scorpion Hill
Waiting
Familiar Patterns
If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will
DVP

Joyce Manor Set List
Heart Tattoo
Derailed
Gotta Let It Go
Beach Community
Violent Inside
Ashtray Petting Zoo
Don’t Try
Eighteen
Schley
Done Right Discount Flooring
Big Lie
NBTSA
Midnight Service at the Mutter Museum (The Murder City Devils cover)
Last You Heard of Me
Victoria
Falling In Love Again
House Warning Party
Christmas Card
Constant Headache
Leather Jacket
Five Beer Plan
Catalina Fight Song