The Toronto punk band PUP is set to play an all-ages concert at the Burton Cummings Theatre with Snotty Nose Rez Kids on Dec. 2 to promote their fifth studio album, Who Will Look After the Dogs? At least two UMFM disk jockeys will be in attendance.
Luc Mayor, whose UMFM show Signal Distortion is currently on hiatus, has been a fan of PUP since discovering them through the rhythm game Osu! in 2018.
Mayor was in his late teenage years when he saw PUP perform at The Garrick Theatre in 2019, when they toured to promote their album Morbid Stuff. It was one of the first concerts he went to alone and his very first time participating in a mosh pit. He described the experience as “one of [his] favourite concert experiences of all time” and formative to his love for pop punk and emo music.
“[When PUP played “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will”] it was something of a [communal] loving and endearing experience where everyone connected,” Mayor told. “I remember embracing this guy who I had never met before. I never talked to him, I never got to know his name […] but in that moment, we had a soul-born connection where […] we understood each other in a way that few others would be able to say that they could […] We had that mutual love for the band.”
Mayor called Who Will Look After the Dogs? a “return to form” for its unpolished sound, reminiscent of their earlier work.
Cole Neustaedter, host of Cole’s Notes on UMFM, is excited for the concert as well. He mentioned he enjoys the album for its darker and more mature qualities.
“It was like love at first sight,” Neustaedter recalled the first time he heard PUP’s music in his mid-twenties upon the release of The Dream is Over in 2016.
He described the track “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will” as “[aggressive], but it’s also understood that [the band members] are all best friends and they actually love each other and it’s kind of beautiful. That was the first track I heard and it struck a chord with me.”
Neustaedter attended PUP’s show at The Good Will Social Club on their tour following The Dream is Over. He remembered feeling a sense of belonging throughout the room while singing together.
“The crowd was just like one gelatinous blob of people who knew all the words,” he remembered.
He also looks forward to seeing Snotty Nose Rez Kids for the first time.
For tickets to the upcoming PUP concert featuring Snotty Nose Rez Kids, visit ticketmaster.ca/event/11006298B27F3837.
