The two-band tour is a rare and beautiful spectacle. Rolling in on the back of a classic New England winter storm, The Anniversary and The Get Up Kids delivered perfectly played sets to a sold-out crowd at Providence, Rhode Island’s Fete Music hall on Sunday, February 16th.
Opening with The Heart is Lonely Hunter, Josh Berwanger and band brought a well-practiced classic to warm the hearts and raise the fists of everyone in attendance. The sing-along and anthemic chorus fueled by the whirring sounds of Adrianne Verhoeven on keys and the driving percussion of Christian “Janko” Jankowski on drums set the crowd into a melodic trance of sentimentality and joy. This is not to say that The Anniversary is a nostalgia band, rather, it emphasizes just how timeless and powerful their sound is. Blending songs off Designing a Nervous Breakdown and Your Majesty, the band didn’t fail to deliver a sound that was just as good as, if not better than, the recorded versions. With the stage ornamented in their favorite pieces of kitsch like the little robot character on amps, Janko’s signature 1970’s Gym Teacher attire, the Gravediggaz shirt Berwanger was wearing, or the sparkles and sequins of Adrianne’s blazer, the band just looks cool as fuck…and as if they don’t age. Is music the fountain of youth? For The Anniversary it certainly feels that way. When All Things Ordinary hit, the crowd was fully loosened up. People let go of whatever they were holding onto inside and danced their hearts out before the band slowed things down on Husam Husam. Closing with The D in Detroit, a song of heartfelt lyrics and powerful melodies, the band seemed to lay into the heavier parts while the crowd held it down with the vocals. If The Anniversary is considering touring more, it would be one of the best decisions they could make as a band since getting back together.
Coming out with smiles on their handsome faces, The Get Up Kids showed up with one purpose on this leg of their 25th Anniversary Tour for Something To Write Home About; play these songs fucking loud. Following up the same tour during the fall of 2024 with the Smoking Popes, TGUK went straight to delivering a tight set of well-honed performing and formidable vocal deliveries. To capture the strength of these songs – and their import – in the most accurate way, one only has to look at the gentleman in his mid-40s with the Sick of it All tattoo (legendary NYHC band) on his neck singing every word to every song – particularly Valentine – at the top of his lungs with his two teenagers in tow. Not only did the band play these songs to their full potential, it’s also important to note that not a single band member had an in-ear monitor. No click track. No drum/instrument mix. Just playing off each other, and playing in time. It highlights the immense talent of these friends and band members, but also how dialed in their sound is after 30 years of making music together. Watching the band play with/off each other and exchanging glances and smiles showed the subtlety of what this means to them. Matt Pryor even stepped away from the mic a few times to lay into riffs and let the amps blow his well-groomed beard back. It goes without saying that the band has always been stylish. People like Rob Pope set the standard for a generation of indie/emo fans’ code of dress – not to mention his style of playing bass, sending up a handful of jumps, and bending that left leg just right to get the perfect pose. It really is important to note how healthy and happy everyone looked on stage. Light banter between takes ensured the band acknowledged their appreciation for their fans’ unwavering dedication over the years.
With an eight-song encore, TGUK took the crowd through their discography. Jim Suptic opened with the classic Campfire Kansas as Ryan Pope and Dustin Kinsey backed him up on tambourine and keys. Forgive and Forget went hard in its seemingly hardcore-music-inspired drumming, and the shout-it-out lyrics of every verse. The only thing that would have made this set better is if stagediving and crowd surfing were encouraged. Considering there was no barrier at the gig, it would have been the perfect setup to get a little buck wild. So many of these songs go incredibly hard. They are perfect anthems for two-stepping, however, the crowd rocked out in their own respectful way. Don’t Hate Me capped the night, emphasizing their early roots in the punk/hardcore realm – and the strong vocals of Pryor. If there was a song to mosh to – and let out a few tears – this is hands down the track. For anyone thinking about catching one of the few shows left on the tour, consider this the clarion call to not miss out.
