Big Ups reunion show with Washer, Mulva, and Muscle at Market Hotel
On Saturday, October 26, 2024, Big Ups performed their first concert in New York City in five years at Market Hotel in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The post-hardcore band reunited to commemorate the tenth anniversary of their album, Eighteen Hours of Static which was put out by Dead Labour a decade ago, and was recently re-released on vinyl and on cassette with songs remixed by various artists. They also performed a warm up show at Angry Mom Records in Ithaca, NY on October 24th.
The first time I saw and captured the group was back on November 1, 2012 at Death By Audio; two years after their formation. This show took place a few days after Hurricane Sandy hit New York City and was a welcome way to experience community after such a destructive storm. Big Ups’ previous hometown performance before going on hiatus took place in January 2019 at Bowery Ballroom and photos from that concert are available on my website in this post. [Note: I originally captured sound check images, portraits, and live sets for BTRtoday which unfortunately ceased existing in March 2020]
For their reunion gig, Big Ups were joined by acts from various cities along the east coast. Up first were Muscle, a trio from Baltimore, followed by Mulva (Providence & NYC), and Washer (Philadelphia & NYC), who also performed at Big Ups’ 2019 goodbye show. During Washer’s set, Mike Quigley shared that he was “really fucking stoked” to be playing with Big Ups again. He joked that it wasn’t for them, Washer wouldn’t be a band because he saw them perform and thought “we gotta rip them off!” He also shared that Amar Lal (Big Ups’ guitarist) brought him to his first ever show at Market Hotel twenty years ago and declared, “hey, look at us now!” Lal also joined the duo briefly during one song to play guitar before Quigley switched from bass to guitar for the remainder of their set.
Big Ups’ reunion setlist was comprised of songs from their albums plus a brand new song, which was the first of their two song encore. Vocalist Joe Galarraga stated on stage that someone said the evening felt like a high school reunion. Many of us in the audience, now half-a decade older, returned to one of the few independent, all ages spaces that still remain in the town where the band began for just one night to witness them once again.