week in joy

jeff rosenstock, PUP, and having my life affirmed

I did not post the Week in Joy yesterday because I have COVID and it completely knocked me on my ass. I’m still not feeling good so I am going to write about one thing today.

My wonderful friends Kerry and Sean took me to see PUP and Jeff Rosenstock on Tuesday night at Warsaw in Brooklyn. This was the middle of Jeff’s residency at Warsaw (eight nights), and I was fortunate enough to be there on the night when PUP was opening. Two of my favorite performers, in a venue I love, with good friends. Couldn’t ask for more, right?

I’ve been to hundreds of shows in my life. Stadiums, arenas, festivals, clubs, houses, warehouses, I’ve seen concerts everywhere. By far my favorite place to see the artists I love is at smaller venues like Warsaw or Brooklyn Steel. Warsaw holds about 1,000 people, and Tuesday night they were 1,000 of my closest friends. There’s something so invigorating and life affirming about being stuffed onto a floor with all those people, standing shoulder to shoulder with strangers who, for a couple of hours, are sharing an intimate experience with you. It’s cathartic, it’s exhilarating.

PUP opened exactly on time (an important factor for someone who is 62 years old and standing for five hours) and blew the doors off the place from start to finish. They came out to “Who Let the Dogs Out” and went crazy from there. 14 raucous songs, pit going crazy, everyone singing every word, fists pumped, joy factor engaged. I felt so alive during that set. Steve Sladkowski sets such an incredible tone as a frontman. He’s mesmerizing. Pure, unadulterated joy. I could have ended the night right here and felt satisfied and complete.

However, my night was just getting started. We’d heard that Jeff was playing over two hours each set, and he was doing a different setlist every night. I was prepared to have my face rocked off and I was not let down. From the opening of “Hey Allison” down to the last fading notes of “Will U Still U” I had the best time of my life I ever had at a show, no exaggeration. I was standing pretty close to the stage, but off to the left because the first thing I do when I get to a venue is find a place against a wall to stand. l had a perfect sightline and when a guy who was about 6’5” stood in front of me, I sighed in defeat, but he turned to me and said and asked if we wanted to get in front of him, which was super chill, and just the general vibe of the show.

Jeff and band ripped through 35 songs in two hours and for those two hours I was not of this world. I was somewhere else, in a better, safer, friendlier place than this world is. I was, for a little while, euphoric. I really let go, singing loud, raising my arms, swaying back and forth when Jeff demanded it, doing whatever felt good at the moment. And to see the joy on the faces of everyone in the crowd, and feel their shared exuberance, was a beautiful, lifting experience. Jeff is such an engaging performer, and you can just tell he and the band are having a great time. The passion they put into each show, the way the love emanates from the stage to the crowd and back at the band, well it as worth getting COVID for. I may feel like shit right now, but I will carry the joy I felt at that show for years. Thanks to Jeff and Steve and the bands, and Kerry and Sean for one of the best nights of my life.

I will never stop going to shows. It sustains me.

Bonus: Jeff did a most wonderful cover of my favorite Courtney Barnett song. Enjoy.

PUP rules live