The Get Up Kids Bring Youthful Attitude to Ohio

Posted on Nov 9th 2009 1:30PM by Jillian Mapes
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When they're not dissing Weezer or disowning emo's origins, alt-rockers the Get Up Kids are on a worldwide reunion tour playing their old favorites -- and forgetting the words to them, too. At the band's Columbus, Ohio show with Kevin Devine at the Newport on Sunday , loyal Get Up Kids fans filled in the lyrical gaps after singer/guitarist Matt Pryor lost his way around the song 'Holy Roman.'

In fact, fans at Sunday's show sang along to almost every song performed, with the exception of several new cuts. Excitement surrounds these songs, including 'Keith Case' (which has been played consistently throughout the tour), as an upcoming Get Up Kids release has been confirmed in recent interviews with the band. But as soon as the crowd of 20-somethings heard the songs that made them fall in love with the Get Up Kids during adolescence, they began unabashedly fist-pumping and belting out the words yet again.

As suspected, the five-piece band played a large selection of tracks from 1999's 'Something to Write Home About,' the recently-reissued album whose 10th anniversary inspired the reunion tour. Album favorite 'Valentine' was a big hit, though perhaps it was the band's onstage antics preceding the song's performance that warmed up the crowd. After jamming briefly with a 12-bar blues riff, Pryor joked that the Get Up Kids' alter-ego "stanky blues" band would be playing the Holiday Inn later.

Playing tracks from each of their four full-length albums and various EPs, the Get Up Kids flawlessly transitioned between the punk-infused sound of 'Four Minute Mile' to the harmony-filled alt-rock of 'Guilt Show' and everything in between. Pryor traded his electric six-string for an acoustic strummer on slowed-down versions of 'Overdue' and 'Campfire Kansas,' both off 2002's 'On a Wire.'

The show's highlight, however, was when the band tore through a wild version of 'Beer for Breakfast,' a Replacements cover featured on the band's B-sides compilation, 'Eudora.' The song, which wasn't included on Sunday's original set list, was dedicated to one of the tour's opening bands, the Life and Times. The Columbus date would be the band's last stop touring alongside the Get Up Kids and Kevin Devine. The cover, however, was not the Get Up Kids' only during their 90-minute set, with a moody rendition of the Cure's 'Close to Me' also performed.

Guitarist Jim Suptic easily summed up the theme of the Get Up Kids' entire tour with just one phrase uttered during the encore: "Thanks for coming out and thanks for still giving a s---," he said. It was obvious that the fans at the Columbus show still cared about the band, through which many relived their youth Sunday night.