The Get Up Kids graced Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms in a flurry of guitars and emotions on Wednesday evening. The room was full to the brim with long term fans, and the air buzzed with excitement...

The legendary emo band (emo in a second wave kind of way, somewhere between “Real Emo only consists of the dc Emotional Hardcore scene…” emo and My Chemical Romance emo) The Get Up Kids are on tour in honour of the 25th anniversary of their seminal album Something To Write Home About. Having just finished the European leg, they did not seem fatigued at all as they opened with Holiday, a heartfelt song that fired the crowd up instantly.
The energy was high from a band that I heard another punter describe (affectionately, I’m sure) as an “old man band”. Sure, their stage patter now consists of jokes about their kids’ ambivalence towards their careers, but it is clear the love they hold for these songs and the passion they put into performing them hasn’t changed a bit in 25 years. They sound great too; a tight performance from the whole band, and both Matt Pryor and Jim Suptic’s voices sound just like they do on the album!
As expected for an anniversary tour, they ploughed through Something To Write Home About in track list order. This meant the set was front-loaded with energetic rock, giving way to some more relaxed moments in the album’s second half. Ten Minutes was always going to be a highlight for me, and the crowd went ballistic for I’m A Loner Dottie, A Rebel.


It may sound a bit hyperbolic to say the crowd knew every word to most of the songs, but it honestly did feel that way. The catharsis was plastered on some people’s faces as they enjoyed songs they perhaps thought they would never hear performed live. Touching moments, surely this is what live music is all about?
Perhaps the most tender moment of the set was I’ll Catch You, a piano-led ballad and the closing song of Something To Write Home About. The crowd sang their hearts out and I saw more than a few hugs shared among the audience. Apparently Mark Hoppus (of Blink-182) played this song when he proposed to his wife, and it’s easy to see why.
After Something To Write Home About, the band treated us to a further eight songs, mostly from their older releases and with a few rarities thrown in. Campfire Kansas was well received, made even more enjoyable by Jim admitting he’d forgotten the words and restarting the song part way through. This is the mark of a confident band - no awkwardness, no judgement from the crowd, just honesty and shared enjoyment.

A few of these tracks sent me right back to my teenage bedroom, especially the Four Minute Mile cuts like Stay Gold, Ponyboy and Don’t Hate Me. Legendary emo songs from an album that steered the careers of many of my favourite artists - what a treat!
The Get Up Kids performed at Rescue Rooms on 4th June 2025, with support from Lakes (pictured further below). They are touring the UK until the 11th June, and the 25th anniversary remaster of Something To Write Home About is available now.

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