Concert Review: Pup Get Rabid At Brooklyn Steel

Upon entering Brooklyn Steel, a young woman had to be rushed to the hospital; with onlookers saying to her, “You went too hard, too soon.” On that scene, I should have known Pup was not going to be a “pretty chill” show, but my delusions continued until I started chatting with a super-fan named Jeff, whose face, when I said the night would not be too rowdy, could be surmised as:

By the first song, I had been hit with three, full beer cans, which made me upset that someone threw away paid beer (lol!). It was as if Pup’s first chord was the equivalent to a light switch going on. Instant punches, crowd-surfing, and moshing began, to which Jeff simply smirked in a “Yeah!” kind of way. It was one of the most purposefully chaotic scenes I have ever seen, but it was completely reflective of Pup’s music and my mistaken view. For Pup, their lyrics and sound are all about feeling safe in un-safety. 

Trust me when I tell you the raucous people stirred that night was FAR from their work hour demeanors. Yet, that was the point.  “Guilt Trip,” “My Life Is Over and I Couldn’t Be Happier,” “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will,” and  “Full Blown Meltdown” were some of their biggest hits with the audience, and I THOUGHT THINGS WOULD BE CHILL!!!!!! They offered pained lyrics like, “Given Into My Demons” and “And everything’s bleeding.” Their words stuck out to me because lead singer Stefan Babcock has a voice that is viscerally vivid; casting emotional turmoils like shadows over the audience. This ignited the crowd to sing with him in catharsis and create a beautifully tragic ambiance. 

People really do feel like tapping out of this world. Sometimes, your life can get so dark that your biggest regret is that you have to wake up. These are truths, at least once, everyone will own but nobody likes to say. Luckily, music helps you sing truths you rather not speak. Pup was the most dynamic band for depression, and the audience’s slugging pit of sweat, screams, laughs, and beer cans that, somehow, always found a way to land on my head became an external symbol for people’s inner hell. Pup’s hardcore, pop punk felt like a loud, enraged laugh to every person foolish enough to act like everything is okay; they even had a giant back-drop of teens at a birthday party holding butcher knives and playing musical chairs. Yet, again, it was another symbol for a real feeling; life is scary and there isn’t enough color in the world to cover its darkness. For More Information On Pup Click Here.