The Menzingers @ Union Transfer with PUP, Lemuria and Cayetana.
Text by Beth Ann Downey. Images by Jesse Marass.
Joe Godino, drummer for Philly punk quartet The Menzingers, set the tone for the evening by making sure to snap a photo of the crowd a few minutes before his band took stage Saturday. He knew he’d want to remember this one.
The band played to a seemingly sold-out Union Transfer audience, their first time headlining one of their hometown’s big venues. The crowd went nuts the second The Menzingers started their set with the same sort of energy more regularly served up at a DIY house show.
It’s been all about The Menzingers since the band released their fourth full-length album, Rented World, in April (see our spring cover story on the band for more information about the making of the album). Friends and fans were at the show to help to celebrate but also showed appreciation and camaraderie toward the opening acts – the Philly punk girls in Cayetana, Canadian hard rockers PUP and the uniquely ethereal indie pop rock from Buffalo, New York’s Lemuria – who are supporting The Menzingers through July on their Rented World summer tour.
Cayetana set things off right, playing through their hits including “Hot Dad Calendar” and reminding the early crowd that the band will soon release its full-length debut, Nervous Like Me, in August via Tiny Engine Records. The Cayetana girls expressed their excitement to be touring with The Menzinger dudes and also the Toronto-born boys of PUP.
The Philly crowd warmed well to PUP, whose set caused the first stage dives of the night as they performed fast-paced, angry punk with smiles on their faces. Many in the crowd already knew the words to the tunes of the band’s breakthrough self-titled album released in April on SideOneDummy Records.
Lemuria opened their set with “Brilliant Dancer” and gave the crowd a high-energy breather as vocalist Sheena Ozzella serenaded the crowd with her soothing vocals.
Though Rented World tunes took precedence, The Menzingers drew from their entire catalog for their set, including “Gates” and “Good Things.” There certainly wasn’t anyone “having a horrible time” in sight.
JUMP: The Philly Music Project 
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