Pup• Joyce Manor• Pool Kids• March 8, 2023•The Depot
On March 8th, fans of all ages filled up The Depot to see Pup, Joyce Manor, and Pool Kids put on a night of rock music! I got to the venue around 7:45 pm and made it up to the area where the concert was being held at 7:50 pm.
Pool Kids
I was slightly worried when I got in because there was already a band on stage. I thought the show started at 8 pm. Luckily they had only been on for a few minutes, so I still caught them in time to take some photos! The energy was high from the second I walked into the room. There was no doubt that the crowd was loving Pool Kids! The indie rock band is made up of Christine Goodwyne, Cade Clinton, Andy Anaya, and Nicolette Alvarez.
They played their songs like, “I Hope You’re Right,” “$5 Subtweet,” and, “Conscious Uncoupling,” while pink, blue, and red lights flashed above them in different variations. The lighting gave a warm, powerful glow to the band and venue during their set. As they played, the crowd was full of head-banging and dancing. Even a small mosh pit formed in the middle of the crowd! At one point the band acknowledged that they could see themselves playing on the screens that were opposite of them above the bar area! They said it was cool, but weird to be able to see themselves. I’m sure that it’s not often, if ever, that they’ve been able to watch themselves perform in real time!
During one of the songs, everyone had the lights from their phones on. They all swayed their arms in sync which created a cool ambiance! All of the members were great at interacting with the crowd, especially the lead singer, Christine. Someone in the crowd yelled, “I love your dress,” and Christine replied, “Thank you! My dress loves you, too!”. Toward the end of their set, she got on the barricade to dance and sing with the crowd. She even let someone in the audience sing into the microphone! It’s safe to say that Pool Kids were a major hit with the concertgoers in Salt Lake City!
Joyce Manor
Up next was Joyce Manor! Barry Johnson, Matt Ebert, and Chase Knobbe who make up the punk rock band took the stage for their set. When they began to play Barry noted that he wasn’t getting vocal feedback through the speakers. I noticed the same thing because usually when taking photos near the front of the stage, the speakers are incredibly loud. At that point, they weren’t. The band still moved forward with their first song, and they still sounded great regardless of their technical difficulties! The crowd thought so too! They were dancing and loving every minute!
After the first song commenced, the band and the crew tried to fix the sound issue for a couple of minutes. Then Barry asked the crowd if they should just play the next song without him being able to hear himself. The crowd enthusiastically cheered, “Yes!” And he responded, “Okay, that’s a fun game for me!”. So the show went on, and again, even with the sound problems, they did a fantastic job! It was really impressive, especially since the music and the crowd were so loud. I’m sure it was tough to even try, but they did it!
After the third song though, Barry said that he wouldn’t be able to sing another song until the feedback was fixed. After a few more minutes, they said the sound wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to keep on going! All the while, the crowd didn’t miss a beat. As Joyce Manor’s fun, engaging set continued, the excitement in the room only grew! The concert goers went from head-banging to dancing in a mosh pit. At some points it even looked like there could be a conga line going through the sea of people.
Joyce Manor played one of the most talented sets I’ve seen at that! Out of the whopping twenty-two songs, they played hits such as, “Falling in Love Again,” “Constant Headache,” and “Catalina Fight Song,”. As well as newer songs like, “Don’t Try,” and, “NBTSA.” Fans at The Depot absolutely loved and were thoroughly entertained by Joyce Manor’s time on stage!
Pup
Between Joyce Manor and Pup, the audience seemed to tire. I don’t blame them, they had been giving it their all for the two hours prior! Fans rested along the barricade, and I wondered if they would rally again. And did they ever! When Stefan Babcock, Steve Sladkowski, Zack Mykula, and Nestor Chumak of Pup walked on stage to begin their portion of the show, the floor literally began to shake from the crowd jumping and head banging, even more than they did before! They were all in sync, too which was fun to see them all having a good time together!
After the first song, Stefan greeted the crowd and told them to introduce themselves to the people around them and make friends. They also told them to make sure everyone stayed okay and safe around them throughout the night, which I thought was a kind reminder! They followed that with the song, “My Life Is Over And I Couldn’t Be Happier.” As they performed through songs like, “Dark Days,” “Reservoir,” “Old Wounds,” and, “Morbid Stuff,” the crowd never, ever stopped dancing! It was chaotic but in the most fun way! Not only were they head banging and moshing, but there were also a lot of crowd surfers too! I don’t think I’d ever seen that in person before so that was cool to see! The entire crowd was truly having the time of their lives.
Pup was a lot of fun to watch! They were so skillful and talented musically. They were also engaging and energetic, witty when they’d talk with the crowd, and they checked in multiple times to make sure everyone was doing okay! Towards the end of the show, Stefan even crowd surfed! Before the last two songs, they announced that they wouldn’t be doing an encore because they thought they were stupid. They jokingly said they were for people to do cocaine or go to the bathroom. They said they didn’t do cocaine, and they could perform a whole show without going to the bathroom. So they didn’t need an encore.
Their last two songs were, “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will,” and, “DVP.” The crowd soaked in every last minute, and because of the band’s announcement prior to the last songs, they wasted no time in heading out since they knew there wasn’t an encore to wait for!
Pup, Joyce Manor, and Pool Kid’s stop in Salt Lake were thoroughly enjoyed by all in attendance! Each band provided incredible music, and the crowd had some of the best times I’ve ever seen at a show!