In the middle of July 2025, PUP embarked on a quest to do six shows around Toronto at six different venues in six days. This quest was called Megacity Madness and saw the band retracing their steps from playing house shows to playing small venues to playing 2, 500 capacity rooms. At each show, they were joined by friends and some of the best Canadian bands making music today. I was lucky to experience the final (sold-out) night of this run, which took place on July 19 at History.
“Hey Tom, you ever been to Tillsonburg? / Tillsonburg? My back still aches when I hear that word”, the opening to Stompin’ Tom Connors’ “Tillsonburg” filled the venue before Whitby-based Chastity took to the stage and kicked off their set with “Jaw Locked” from their 2024 self-titled album. The grunge-y, metal-tinged, punk power of the band and Brandon Williams’s vocals (not to mention the lyrics) contrasted perfectly with the Stompin’ Tom opening and I started headbanging along, the intensity of which would continue to build as their set went on.
“Real World”, off 2022’s Suffer Summer was both pummelling and melodic, inspiring people to sing along with the chorus and move along. The lights for this song were perfect and throughout the set, they continued to match the tone of the songs wonderfully. “Manning Hill” (off their 2017 Chains EP) came next, with Brandon introducing it has being about “a hill in Whitby where we go skateboarding.” The band’s energy was excellent, all the members looked like they were having a blast and they sounded incredibly tight.
“When You Go Home I Withdrawal” (which was written with Stefan of PUP) was introduced by Brandon talking about the last show they played with PUP, which was at a barn in Brooklyn, Ontario. This got cheers from the crowd, to which he asked, “Sick, where you there?” which got a “Wooo!”
They played a short clip package of someone talking about the ongoing genocide in Palestine before kicking “Free For All” off with “Free Palestine!” The crowd erupted in cheers, and I noticed the pit gain momentum. “This next one’s for the headbangers!” Brandon said before one of the gnarliest riffs I’ve ever heard started up. It was impossible to keep your head still during this song (I believe it was “Chains”).
“Innocence” was also a highlight of their set and was introduced as being about “taking care of your friends.” It was fitting for the night as everyone was there to have a great time and genuinely seemed to be looking out for one another. The mix of Brandon’s clean vocals and the heavy instrumentation on this track was absolutely incredible.
Chastity’s set passed in a blur of superb dynamics, great lights, and boundless energy. I had been wanting to see them for so long and I’m so glad I finally got the chance. They sound awesome recorded, but their live show is truly something to be experienced.
Soon after Chastity left the stage, Montreal-based punk rockers NOBRO and their crew came on to set up. After a very quick changeover, the lights went down and NOBRO came out to claim their instruments and tear the roof off the place. I was so excited to finally see a longer set from them.
Right off the bat, they led the crowd in an enthusiastic “Let’s go NOBRO” chant before launching into “Where My Girls At” from their 2023 album Set Your Pussy Free. People were singing along immediately and the band looked like they were having a blast. They went into “A.I. Sexbots” next, which featured the first of a couple outstanding bongo solos, followed by “Let’s Do Drugs” (if you weren’t already singing and dancing, this song got you there) and “Marianna” off their 2020 EP Sick Hustle.
Lead singer and bassist Kathryn McCaughey introduced the next song with an impassioned speech (“My pussy’s in a cage. My pussy wants to dance.”) which had everyone cheering and ended with, “Everyone has a pussy whether it’s in [your heart] or [in your head]”. The band then started up “Set That Pussy Free” and the room exploded in movement. Everyone was singing along with the “N-O-B-R-O” part and reaching their middle fingers to the sky to punctuate, “Put your hands real high cause you've had enough / Wave them all about like you just don't give a fuck.” This was a moment of pure cathartic joy that celebrated bodily autonomy and told anyone who doesn’t respect that to fuck right off.
The band then started up my favourite song of theirs, “Til I Get It All” and I promptly lost my mind. It was a true joy dancing and singing along to those words. After a talk about menopause (which should be talked about way more than it is), the band launched into a new song, which I believe was called “Take Me Far Away”. The song was high-energy and found the band moving in a heavier direction while retaining their undeniable groove and infectious hooks. I can’t wait to hear a recorded version of this.
NOBRO blasted through “Don’t Wanna Talk About It” and “I Don’t Feel Like It”, both of which inspired many sing-a-longs and the latter of which inspired more joyous middle fingers to take flight. “This next song is dedicated to everyone,” Kathryn said before the band started up a raucous version of “Don’t Die”. “Delete Delete Delete” came next and everyone vented their frustrations with the internet together.
There was a healthy pit going throughout their set and I saw a few people crowdsurfing. Kathryn jumped into the crowd at a couple points as well, never missing a word. She ran around the stage getting the crowd ready for “Eat Slay Chardonnay” from their 2022 EP Live Your Truth Shred Some Gnar, holding the mic out to us to yell “Chardonnay” back, which we did with gusto.
“This song’s in French and Karo is going to sing!” Kathryn said, putting her bass back on as the band kept the Shred Some Gnar train rolling with “Bye Bye Baby”. The song showcased guitarist Karolane Carbonneau’s vocal range (THOSE SCREAMS 10/10) along with how well her voice and Kathryn’s go together.
I don’t remember exactly when they played it, but NOBRO also tore through a supercharged version of “Better Each Day” that electrified the crowd. The band ended their set with the glorious chaotic punk energy of their 2019 single “Lala” which was just under two minutes of raw energy.
NOBRO were absolutely amazing, not only wowing longtime fans, but welcoming new fans into the fold as well. They walked off stage to chants of “N-O-B-R-O”.
After another quick changeover, the lights went down, “Who Let The Dogs Out?” started playing, and PUP walked onto the stage to cheers. They picked up their instruments and launched into “No Hope”, the ripping opening track of their recently released fifth album Who Will Look After The Dogs?. That song was quickly followed up by “Olive Garden” and people (including myself) were already singing, dancing, and moshing their hearts out.
Stefan Babcock took a minute to say something along the lines of, “The world sucks ass and we’re sad and we’re angry but we’re all here to not feel like shit so take care of each other especially in the pit” before telling us that each night they had been focusing on a different album, but tonight they were “playing the fucking hits." This elicited thunderous cheers from the crowd.
The band then started up “My Life Is Over and I Couldn’t Be Happier” (off 2016's The Dream Is Over) and the energy in the room kicked up several notches. I think this is when I saw the first crowdsurfer. Everyone was singing along to the lyrics with an intensity that I’ve rarely felt outside of PUP shows. This continued throughout “Free at Last” and “Dark Days”, which is among their most cathartic songs to see live. There is something incredibly special that happens when everyone is singing, “This winter hasn’t been so rough / Oh, it was cold but it wasn’t cold enough / To freeze the blood beneath my spine / And at least I survived” doubly so at the end when the last line changes to “At least I’ll survive”.
At this point, the pit was in full effect with people crowdsurfing nearly constantly. The temperature was climbing along with everyone’s excitement, the heat doing nothing but supercharging the band and the crowd. All of the energy the band was expending on stage was returned to them tenfold by the crowd. “Concrete” was next up which was followed by “Sleep In The Heat” (everyone was united as we sang to Norman’s memory), “Hallways”, and “Totally Fine”.
“Morbid Stuff” was up next and was introduced by Stefan saying, “We released this album about existential dread in 2019” with guitarist Steve Sladkowski chiming in, “And nothing bad happened ever again!” prompting laughs from the crowd. They kept the Morbid Stuff train rolling with “Kids” before welcoming guitarist John DeDomenici (who you may know from the Jeff Rosenstock band) to the stage for “Paranoid”, allowing Stefan full range of the stage.
John remained on stage for the next song, which saw a surprise guest - Jeff Rosenstock (who played with the band, along with Burner, on the fourth night of the Megacity Madness run) take to the stage and prompt a “No feet for free” chant. PUP started up “Get Dumber” (the song featuring Jeff from Who Will Look After The Dogs?), and Jeff added even more energy into the room. He stayed and did “Waiting” (from 2022's THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND) with the band before heading off stage along with John.
“Familiar Patterns” was an absolute slam dunk and was followed up with “Scorpion Hill”, which is, in my opinion, lyrically the hardest hitting PUP song. Drummer Zack Mykula was absolutely phenomenal all night, and his drumming really shone through on this song. The lights cutting out after the final line, “I can’t pretend to know how this will end,” added an extra layer to the story. The lights came back up before narrowing to a spotlight on Stefan, who talked about how he doesn’t get stage fright anymore but was nervous to play the next song live for the first time before starting “Shut Up”. The crowd swayed and sang along.
After a quick, “I guess I didn’t fuck that up too bad”, the band launched into the double whammy of “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will” and “DVP”. If you weren’t drenched in sweat or hadn’t been singing along before, this would have done it. Everyone was singing every word and went especially hard on the "whoa"s, “Doin’ 180 on the Don Valley Parkway”, and "Hawaiian Red Fruit Punch". Everyone got their middle fingers up again for “Hunger For Death” (“Fuck everyone on this planet / Except for you”). At least around me, this song prompted a bunch of couples to kiss.
The band then took a moment to reflect on the fun, crazy, emotional ride of the past week; talking about how much it meant to them to do this run of shows, share the stage with so many amazing bands (including Chastity and NOBRO who both got lots of cheers), and how proud they are to be from Toronto. The Community Music Schools of Toronto (who were there that night collecting donations) got a special shoutout for all the awesome work they do with music education. The staff at History also got a well-deserved shoutout, as did Josh, the person working the lights.
“We thought this would be the least sweaty show, but we were wrong,” the band said shortly before making the place a whole lot sweatier with “Reservoir”. Kathryn and Karolane of NOBRO joined the band on stage for the song (if you haven’t checked out NOBRO’s cover version, go do that ASAP), as did Jeff Rosenstock, who added in some sweet sax near the end. Bassist Nestor Chumak, who had been reaching new heights with each jump throughout the night, seemed to soar through the air on this track. This song was an explosion of dancing, singing, moshing, crowdsurfing (Stefan jumped into the crowd a couple times), and friendship. It was pure joy start to finish.
PUP then launched into their final song of the night, “Old Wounds”. I had been vigorously singing along all night, but this song was where I almost lost my voice. I let myself get lost in the sea of people and felt all the bad shit drain from my soul. After the final note rang out, Steve held the trans flag (that had been on stage all night) up high, the band got together for a group hug, and turned to take a photo with the crowd in the background before heading off stage.
This is the third time I’ve seen PUP and every time is incredibly meaningful. The first time I saw them was in 2016 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre. It was my first time on the floor at a punk show and changed the way I saw live music forever. A lot of this show felt like that to me. It felt like I was reuniting many sides of myself that had splintered over the years. I walked out of History that night feeling whole and sated in a way I haven’t felt for a long time. It was a truly amazing night that I will remember as long as I live.