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Webster Hall in NYC was the second night of tour, and my first night joining up with the bands. (Webster Hall, New York City)

PUP photo tour diary

Photographer: Kara Smarsh

Photographer Kara Smarsh recently hit the road with PUP, one of our 100 bands you need to know this year, on their current tour opening for the Menzingers, and captured the whole thing in this new photo diary. 

You can catch the tour, which also includes Lemuria and Cayetana this summer through early July at the following dates: 

June 26 Austin, TX – Red 7 Inside 
June 29 Houston, TX – Fitzgeralds Downstairs
June 30 New Orleans, LA – Siberia                 
July 02 Tampa FL – Orpheum 
July 03 Orlando, FL – The Social 
July 04 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade – Middle 
July 05 Richmond, VA – Strange Matter 
July 06 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar 

“Touring in support of the recent release of their self-titled album, PUP has garnered acclaim from both album reviewers listening at home through their headphones and concert patrons seeing and hearing them for the first time live and in person. Often shooting from the crowd across the Northeast gave me the opportunity to personally hear concert-goers confirm with each other their positive impressions of a band that they had never heard before.

As they would say, “Second of four doesn't get a sound check,” which also means that they had one chance every night to dominate the stage and gain new fans with their energetic, emotionally-driven and infectious set. The Menzingers' Rented World tour was the perfect platform for them to perform to new audiences and sold-out crowds and to also show that they could hold their own among veterans of their scene.

Over the four days I spent with PUP, documenting their daily lives as much as their nightly performances, I also lived their daily lives. At one point, guitarist Steve Sladkowski commented that when he didn't necessarily feel like playing a show, he would just remind himself that he only had to work for half an hour each day and he had only that time to give it his all. In reality, these guys give everything they have on a daily basis and have sacrificed time with loved ones and promising careers in the pursuit of their passions for playing music, and they're finding a lot of success that only they would consider unexpected.” —Kara Smarsh