The Get Up Kids have been out of the spotlight since 2005, so the announcement that they would be playing a full reunion tour came as a surprise.  Everything seemed so final, the farewell show played in their hometown of Kansas City, the release of the “Live at the Granada” CD showcasing their last show, and the beginning side projects by 3 different members of the band(Matt in the New Amsterdams, Jim in Blackpool Lights, and Rob in Spoon). Seemingly everyone had move on, and yet there we were watching the Get Up Kids rock a live show at the Norva in Norfolk Virginia on November 4th.

I’ve seen the Get Up Kids several times live and they have an uncanny way of getting the crowd pumped from the first to the last song and this reunion show as no exception.  They always sound great live, bring a ridiculous amount of energy to the stage and play the songs they know the audience wants to hear.  They opened most of their reunion shows with the fan favorite “I’m a Loner Dottie a Rebel,” and before they finished the first line “Come tomorrow I’ll be….” the crowd in Norfolk was shaking their fists and reciting “….on my way back home.”  For all we knew it could have been 4 years ago except for the fact that there were only about half the amount of people shaking their fists.

So, with that seamless segway, here comes the bad news, they didn’t come close to selling out the Norva, which only holds about 1500 people and the fans that were there seemed much less enthused about this recent tour.  Maybe they have been gone too long, maybe they were just never popular enough to begin with, but with 2 brand new songs on the set list, it looks like The Get Up Kids are interested in a resurgence.  The first song they debuted, “Your Petty Pretty Things” is a nice return to the sound that almost made them famous, reminding me of the uptempo catchy tunes found on their near perfect album “Something to Write Home About.”  Yet the second song, “Keith Case,” which seemed to me a failed experiment with funky bass lines just simply fell flat and never really went anywhere.

All this being said, I still think The Get Up Kids have a great live sound and some good music to write.  So, if you’re a fan of music in the indie/emo/pop punk variety keep your eyes peeled and your ear to the ground, because The Get Up Kids might not be done yet.