To be honest, I had never heard of Eastern Conference Champions when they were announced as support act for The Get Up Kids’ German tour. A quick google search was able to change that. The first thing I learned was that they were featured on the Twilight Saga soundtrack in 2010 which gained them a lot of popularity. No wonder then that A Million Miles an Hour had the most play on last.fm. Ironically, I didn’t like that song much upon first listen and it took me a while to get past it and listen to their other stuff. Once I listened to their recent album Speak-Ahh I changed my mind. The opener Attica immediately got me hooked and left me wanting more. So that by the time the concert date arrived I was eager to see their set.
Eastern Conference Champions – Attica
When I got to Lido at 8 the place was empty save for some people at the bar. Eastern Conference Champions took to the stage at 8:15 and for a moment there I felt sorry for them being in this empty room. However, once they started playing the room filled up. The band were met with really welcome reception by the audience and I guess many had heard of them before and were excited for their set. By the time singer Greg promised a free CD for the person who first gets near the stage everyone had moved up to the front (I wonder if that girl got her CD?). Well, that is how you get people’s attention!
Songs played were Attica, A Million Miles an Hour, Atlas, Hurricane, Hell or High Water, and Bull in the Wind (not in that order) – all from Speak-Ahh.
Eastern Conference Champions – Hurricane (free download)
It didn’t take long for The Get Up Kids to arrive after that. The audience were all warmed up and excited for what was to come. Looking around I realized that most of their fans must have been around since the beginning, being 12 years older now than when Something to Write Home About came out – their most successful album. There were a lot of couples in their early thirties there. Couples who have probably fallen in love while listening to The Get Up Kids. And I always thought they were making break-up music.
The Get Up Kids played a good mix of old and new songs. Most songs were, as expected, from Something to Write Home About. There was a few songs form their recent album There Are Rules as well as one or two songs from every other release. You could tell that people loved Something to Write Home About because every time they launched into on of its songs the room exploded. When they came back for the encore they finally played the song that everyone was waiting for, Holiday. After that the people still wanted more. So the band returned to the stage and played a cover of Girls & Boys by Blur turning the show into a 90s party for good.
By the time I got home they had announced on their facebook page that this would be the last chance to see them in Europe for a while. After this tour, the band are going to tend to other projects. I hope there will be another The New Amsterdams record (Matt Pryor’s other band).
