"We usually never get asked to do encores cause we suck," PUP frontman Stefan Babcock offered at the end of his band's set, to a crowd that refused to take him for his word. In the last year since they've played Edmonton, the band's profile has steadily increased and it seemed like PUP were finally ready to capitalize on it. Every sing-along hook was taken by the wild crowd and spit back at the band with incredible force, and a solid year of nonstop touring have turned PUP into a powerhouse band, able to turn songs like the drawn-out "Yukon" into the aural equivalent of a gigantic sledgehammer.
Blazing through a set list comprised of most of their debut self-titled album along with a new song "DVP," PUP ended their set with the all-conquering "Reservoir". And that encore? It turned out to be a riotous cover of the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" featuring a crowd-surfing Babcock, who succeeded in not only getting to hang upside down from the rafters like an inverted Jesus but in giving the crowd at the Denizen Hall an experience they're not likely to forget.
Blazing through a set list comprised of most of their debut self-titled album along with a new song "DVP," PUP ended their set with the all-conquering "Reservoir". And that encore? It turned out to be a riotous cover of the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" featuring a crowd-surfing Babcock, who succeeded in not only getting to hang upside down from the rafters like an inverted Jesus but in giving the crowd at the Denizen Hall an experience they're not likely to forget.