The Get Up Kids @ Webster Hall

This was my first solo concert-going experience, and I have to say that it really wasn't that bad. The only real difference is that you don't have anyone to talk to in between sets and compare notes with afterwards. And of course it's much better than not having gone altogether. So yeah, if there's a show you want to see but no one to go with? Go anyway. It'll be worth it.

First up was Bella Lea, which consisted of a somewhat screamy girl on vocals and some stoner guys backing her up. All of their songs kind of sounded the same, but it wasn't unpleasant to listen to. Not much else to say really.

Next was the French Kicks, who I really loved! They headlined a Fanclub Collective show at Cornell this past semester, but I hadn't gone for some reason or another even though I had wanted to and should have. They have that Walkmen-Strokes-NYC-rock sound and I really enjoyed their performance, even though I was probably only one of a few that did. I guess indie rock and emo don't share that many fans or something.

Finally, the Get Up Kids came on, and it was every bit as good as I had been hoping for. I had read on the message boards that sometimes they're really drunk and sloppy, but this was an early show (it started at 6PM) so they seemed fine. I've been a fan for pretty long time and I knew the words to about 75% of the songs they played so it was just so much fun. I was especially happy to hear "Mass Pike," the first Get Up Kids song I'd ever listened to, and "No Love" and "Don't Hate Me" from Four Minute Mile, my favorite of their albums. This was a classic punk/emo concert in that things got pretty crushed and sweaty up near the front so I tried to stay outside of the pit area. I left after the first song of the encore because I needed to catch a train, and apparently I missed "Ten Minutes," another great song, but oh, well. I got to hear enough of their set to be satisfied.

The Get Up Kids kind of have a bad rap for being emo, and I'm not going to bother trying to defend them, but for some reason they've outlasted all of the other bands of the genre that I used to listen to, so uh, yeah, I'm really happy that I got the chance to see them on their final tour. So will this also be my last punk/emo concert? Haha, we'll see.