I’ll Get My Master’s (and my stupid little song)

I’ll Get My Master’s (And My Stupid Little Song)

PUP, Jeff Rosenstock, Ekko Astral - The Eastern 9/22 - Atlanta, GA

Review by Caitlin Tuel

5-8 Minute Read

I need to say I’m sorry about a backlog, but I need to be a human being and grieve my family. (“Girl, how much time do you need?” My dad is on my shelf after three years of mentally preparing for his remains to be on my shelf/moved/hung out with/VIBES and I still wasn’t ready).

And in a large part, I have always chosen to do that at concerts. Grieve, experience life, get through my problems, and in a huge part of my life that’s what birthed the magazine - love for art and life, and creativity, and love needing a place to go. I think sometimes I also need a place to go. I chose to go home.

I drove to Atlanta to take care of my family in any aspect I could, maybe just to pop into my hometown when nobody was dying to feel like I was a part of the family for the first time since childhood. I wanted to visit my grandparents and my dad and my brother at the cemetery, and I wanted to feel like I was a sibling to my sister. Coincidentally, Pup was also not making a Florida stop on their tour - something had to move, and it was me. Top to bottom, phenomenal show - I experienced The Eastern, which like, beautiful, gorgeous area that simply wasn’t around when I was a kid. I missed the hell out of that area, and I think they did an insane job with it. It helps there was a good brewery nearby - I did need a little 6oz pour at the time before the show. Admittedly, I’d been disassociating a majority of the show, but sometime after Rosenstock, who has an insanely high energy level we should all aspire to have, I was pushed entirely to the front for PUP in the time I was getting Bowie’d with Young Americans on the pre-show mix. Against the sun we’re the enemy, y’know? Thank you to Eastern/Masquerade security (Masq owns the Eastern, my loves) who had caught more bodies in a single set than I think I’d seen get caught all year. With nothing but kindness, joy, and enjoyment of the music might I add. I love to see our security folks enjoying themselves.

Pushed entirely to the barricade for the first time in likely several years, it’s go time, and I’m not able to back out - at that point in time I’d forgotten that’s kind of the deal - the point - the fun - on this side of the metal, and quickly locked the hell in and remembered.

Pup the band will always appear for a show when I need them. September 2019, Semptember 2025 - no difference (except the old Orpheum. Rest easy, queen). When people complain about a setlist to your band, I need y’all to look towards PUP. I’ve been a fan of this band since I discovered them through Dream Daddy Dating Simulator - yeah, they’re in the Game Grumps game. We have an 8-bit cover of DVP in a mini-game in a dating simulator that came out in July 2017 via the damn Game Grumps, (SFL mentioned, in a way!) and my autistic ass was obsessed with it so much that I had to dig through the discography. It’s been a fun almost-decade with Pup, and the wonderful folks they are aside (Covid livestreams with USA-relevant political donations - good people will always help people.), their music matches them. The setlist was a phenomenal mix of old and newer songs alike, especially to celebrate the recent release of “Who Will Look After The Dogs?”. When I say “no complaints”, I truly mean it. From the crowd and myself alike. Even when we got an additional song and folks around me joked about it being Mabu (one day!), there were no complaints when it was “Shut Up“ (We’ll circle back, trust). It felt like I got to relive my first Pup show, but better. I’ve missed this, I’ve missed feeling alive. Even if I’ve never cried more at a show in my life. Reservoir with Rosenstock, having a double band, and I think I am too old for this shit now, but TRIPLE BAND! What fun, so truly. I can’t express how much of an absolute joy seeing Pup always is, and always will be, especially when it’s a cataclysmic rapture of friendshipness, the day BEFORE an alleged rapture is going to occur! Fuck it, we all follow Familiar Patterns, and nothing hits like Nestor’s bassline for that live.

I’m sorry to anybody who now knows me or knows me from my hometown that saw me open mouth sob - I think “Shut Up” wasn’t supposed to be played but I got super jumpscared and didn’t expect to deal with more emotionally than holding up my sibling collage during Hallways. As I feel I should. That was my friend. That was my brother. But it all ties back to needing to feel human, and to sent your love to where it needs to go. At the end of it all, I still feel abandoned and alone in my grief even if there are others around me who experienced it with me - I think anybody in my position would - but she doesn’t need solutions, she needs me to shut my mouth. I’d been sitting there thinking of the line “It’s not how they told you, my intentions were good”. God.

At the end of the day, I will still try for graduate school, I will get my master’s, and I’ll always have my very-un-stupid little songs. At the end of the night, I realized I wasn’t singing the backing vocals for Dark Days live anymore. At least I’ll survive. My dad loved PUP. He loved their art, their humor, their guitar tones, the vinyl pressings - he had one or two - the drop D propensity, and I loved that I got to share that with him. This Place DOES Suck Ass, but I am so grateful I had a wonderful dad and brother.

Thank you forever to a cataclysmic (failed rapture) but a lot of friendshipness - always a pleasure to meet new folks. You’ll see some of them here sooner than you think.

lotsalove

CT

9/26/2025