The Get Up Kids / Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band / The Life and Times
The Phoenix Theatre, Toronto ON October 25

By Ian Gormely

To say that the Get Up Kids were an influential band is a vast understatement. With their second album Something to Write Home About, the Kansas City, MO five-piece created a bridge for pop-punk-loving teens weaned on Green Day and Blink-182 to discover everything from the Promise Ring to Coalesce, and paved the way for mainstream breakthroughs with bands like Dashboard Confessional and Fall Out Boy. And though the band went out on a bit of a whimper when they split in 2005, their legend only grew in the ensuing four years. Now reunited and touring not just to promote the ten-year anniversary and reissue of Something to Write Home About, the band are apparently working on new material as well.

On the tour's Toronto stop, the Life and Times kicked off the night with a short set of proggy rock, followed by Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band. After a terrible vocal mix on the group's first song, Devine said something to the soundman and the quartet quickly found their groove, alternating between pop-rockers, Ted Leo-esque protest tunes and brooding-Brand New (whose Jesse Lacey is Devine's BFF) style rock. Unfortunately, Devine and co. alternated between moments of pure rock bliss and time-for-a-bathroom-break boredom.

Finally, the Get Up Kids hit the stage, launching into "Holiday" to uproarious applause, quickly followed by "I'm a Loner Dottie, A Rebel" for which the band paused briefly to let the crowd sing the intro line "Come tomorrow I'll be on my way back home." In fact, throughout the night the crowd sang along with every word out of Matt Pryor and Jim Suptic's mouths. Even deep cuts off On a Wire and Guilt Show, such as "Walking on a Wire" and "Hannah Hold On," received a warm reception.

The band seemed genuinely pleased to be playing together again, pouring themselves into every song. Keyboardist James Dewees laughed off requests for a Coalesce track (he used to play drums for them) but delivered on another for Slayer. Despite their stature amongst their fans, the band remain incredibly self-aware; at one point Pryor asked the crowd if they wanted to hear an old one, then joked that they were all old ones before playing Four Minute Mile's "No Love." In fact, the group did an admirable job of playing something from each of their releases, reaching all the way back to play the title track off of the Woodson EP.

After 16 songs, the band briefly retired to the backstage before returning for a five-song encore that started with their covers of "Close to Me" and "Beer for Breakfast" and ending with "Don't Hate Me," "I'll Catch You" and "Ten Minutes," promising that they'd be back again. Though certainly many left with a tinge of frustration that perhaps their particular favourite wasn't played (like, say, "Central Standard Time"), it was hard to argue that this was surely as good a Get Up Kids show as you could possibly hope for.
Neon Indian
Sunparlour Players / Sheesham & Lotus
The Idan Raichel Project
Real Estate - Real Estate
The Mayfair Set - Young One + Self-Titled
Leyland Kirby - Sadly, The Future Is Not What It Was
Kraftwerk - 12345678: The Catalogue
Cloak/Dagger - Lost Art
Bebel Gilberto - All In One
Lyle Lovett - Natural Forces
Will Hoge - The Wreckage
Will Stratton - No Wonder
Dave Rawlings Machine - A Friend of a Friend
Juliette Lewis - Terra Incognita
Sea Wolf - White Water, White Bloom
Yim Yames - Tribute To
Ambarchi / Fennesz / Pimmon / Rehberg / Rowe - Afternoon Tea
Wooley / Lytton / Grubbs - Seven Storey Mountain
Ganesh Anandan & Hans Reichel - Self Made
Todor Kobakov - Pop Music
Castanets - Texas Rose, The Thaw & The Beasts
Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love - Feels, Feathers, Bog And Bees
Nocturnal Fear - Metal Of Honor
Slayer - World Painted Blood
Green Jellÿ - Musick To Insult Your Intelligence By
DRUDKH - Autumn Aurora
Letting Up Despite Great Faults - Letting Up Despite Great Faults
Comanechi - Crime of Love
Brilliant Colors - Introducing
Star Fucking Hipsters - Never Rest in Peace
Bastard Child Death Cult - Year Zero
Antonio Valdetaro e Grupo - Letícia
Ken Aldcroft’s Convergence Ensemble - Our Hospitality
Devin Townsend Project - Addicted
The Expos - Blackwater
Ray Charles - Genius Hits the Road
Marek Hemmann - In Between
Emptyset - Emptyset
Bassnectar - Cozza Frenzy
Basement Jaxx - Scars
David Sait - Postage Paid Dues — Volume 2
Muskox - 5 Pieces
Friendly Rich - Presents Pictures At An Exhibition
March Fourth Marching Band - Rise Up
Fat Freddy’s Drop - Dr. Boondigga & The Big BW
Collage - 54’05”
The Quiet Nights Orchestra - Chapter One
Sabrina Malheiros - New Morning
Chief - Collabo Collection
Paten Locke - Super Ramen Rocketship
DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid - The Secret Song
Scottt Catolico - Massacre
The Bushpilots - Seven Ways to Broadway
Coalesce - Ox EP
Black Anvil - Time Insults the Mind
Culted - Below the Thunders of the Upper Deep
Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect
Gossip - Music for Men
Bell Horses - This Loves Last Time
Shonen Knife - Super Group
Hockey - Mind Chaos
The Dudes - Blood Guts Bruises Cuts
Lee & Willbee - North Carolina
Teenage Bottlerocket - The Came From The Shadows
Krum Bums - Same Old Story
Los Yetis - Nadaismo A Go-Go!
Sacrifice - The Ones I Condemn
Priestess - Prior To The Fire
Various - Fire In My Bones: Raw & Rare & Otherworldly African-American Gospel (1944-2007)
The Schomberg Fair - Gospel
Various - D-Funk: Funk, Disco & Boogie Grooves From Germany 1972 — 2002
Grand Archives - Keep In Mind Frankenstein
7 Worlds Collide - The Sun Came Out
A Fine Frenzy - Bomb in a Birdcage
Raveonettes - In And Out Of Control
Headlights - Wildlife
Jakartah - In the Nervous Light of Coincidence
Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary
The Noisettes - Wild Young Hearts
Tinted Windows - Tinted Windows
Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue
Fashawn - Boy Meets World
Corporation - Return of the Corporation
Idlers - Keep Out
Mark Matos and Os Beaches - Words of the Knife
Genitorturers
The Jesus Lizard / Brides
Deastro / Max Tundra
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson / These United States
Dinosaur Jr. / Pink Mountaintops
Young Galaxy / Politique / Blazer
The Fiery Furnaces / Cryptacize
Jonas Reinhardt / Sinoia Caves / Valet
Muse - The Resistance
Ricca Razor Sharp - Causeways & C-Trains
Muneshine - Status Symbol
Magnolius - Mary Musht
Port-Royal - Dying In Time
John Abercrombie - Wait Till You See Her
Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky
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