Live! At Granada Theater [Live]

The Get Up Kids have been writing sincere, honest music for over 10 years now; a decade in music usually warrants a collection of an artists/band's best 'best' tracks to date in the form of either a Singles Collection, Greatest Hits or, more riskily, a Live Album. As anyone who has been to a Live Get Up Kids show will testify, the band are a lively bunch with a fair share of banter in their shows and - as is to be expected from a decade in music - a killer choice of songs to choose from. The tracklisting of 'Live @ The Granada Theater' reads as testament to that decade, including tracks from all 4 full-lengths and 'Mass Pike' and 'Woodson' from the 'Red Letter Day' and 'Woodson' EPs respectively.

The album's first 5 songs are the doubtless highlight; 'Coming Clean' is immediate, 'The One You Want' proves itself to be better Live than on Guilt Show, 'Holiday' and 'Action and Action' from Something to Write Home About re-ignite the catharticism in Matthew Pryor's vocals that the sophomore album deserves, and even 'Stay Gone' from the mediocre On a Wire is surprisingly emotional.

To say that the album goes downhill from track 5 would be a disservice to the Band; there's a nice little on-stage quip at the end of 'Woodson', and 'I'm a Loner, Dottie, A Rebel...' features some fair crowd participation, and the same could be said for 'Don't Hate Me'. There are several problems, though; the 'Red Letter Day' intro - for all its intended intensity-building - is a bit of a jumbled mess, both the proper and faux-endings feel like a bit of a cop-out (Granted, 'I'll Catch You' is from the band's most popular album, but it sounds a little canned, and 'Is There a Way Out?' fails to have any real effect on the show as a whole at all). Whilst the tracklisting is, at times, surprising, it should be noted that this CD doesn't feature the whole show from the Granada Theater tour dates; 'Walking on a Wire' is sorely missed, as 'On a Wire' is only represented by two songs here. Where's Anne Arbour? Wouldn't Hannah Hold On prove a more sombre, pleasant finale? The biggest clanger though, I feel, is in the choice of songs from Guilt Show: whilst 'The One You Want' and 'Martyr Me' shed a favourable light on the 'Kids final full-length the inclusion of 'Is there a Way Out?' and the frankly forgettable 'Sick in her Skin' surely should've made way for the likes of 'How Long Is Too Long?', 'In Your Sea', 'Sympathy', or maybe even 'Holy Roman Style'

For those who were there, the reception of the album is bound to be as equally mixed as for those who weren't; the songs are doubtlessly of high quality, but the execution of some of them (both by the band and those recording the concert) fails to capture the true spirit of a great live show.

The DVD scheduled to be released later this year has much to improve on this recording in order to end the legacy of The Get Up Kids as befits a band of their talents and influence, which winds up vaguely unsatisfying after repeated playings

I've been an avid Get Up Kids fan since they started 10 years ago. Somehow I have never seen them perform live tho (though i will be seeing them live tonight at the Fillmore in SF!). This cd is simply amazing! A lot of bands that sound good in studio dont measure up when put in the live spotlight. Its nice to see the Get Up Kids have no problems performing live and in fact do it incredibly well. An awesome recording from an awesome band!

I've seen TGUK a few times & this album doesn't do their live gigs justice but it is a fine swan song for a great (& greatly underappreciatted !) band. The banter between the "kids" was always a fun part of their shows & none of it makes the disc,

(remember Jim's impromptu "Milkshake" cover on the last tour?) but hey, it's about the tunes right? I'm seeing them for the last time on June 24th in NYC, & I'll be as sad about them hangin' them up, as I will be happy about seeing a great rock band play their hearts out...

Thanks Matt,Robert,Ryan,Jim & James.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 6 reviews  4.3 out of 5 stars