Best Of 2023 - Pup Punk Tore The House Down At Oceans Calling This Weekend
This weekend, a few of us here at Barstool lived out our childhood dreams when Pup Punk performed at the Oceans Calling Festival in Ocean City, Maryland - on a bill that included John Mayer, Alanis Morisette, Jack Johnson, OAR, Weezer, The Lumineers, Third Eye Blind, Incubus, Sheryl Crow, Jimmy Eat World, and many other legends/real bands who aren't actually bloggers.
Friend-of-the-program/OAR frontman Marc Roberge played a huuuuge role in putting the festival on and personally booked us for the inaugural Oceans Calling last year, but the threat of a hurricane cancelled the whole weekend and temporarily ruined what sounded like the best time ever.
Thankfully, though, we were rebooked on the 2023 lineup, and the experience couldn't have exceeded our expectations any more - so let's talk about it!
Immediately after this year's festival dates were set, we had an issue to deal with: Oceans Calling overlapped with the Ryder Cup in Italy, which our drummer Frankie would likely be attending with Fore Play.
Obviously, our first thought was to offer the gig to Travis Barker - but we couldn't reach him; so then I offered the spot to Rian Dawson from All Time Low (a Maryland native) and he was actually down to do it! Unfortunately, though, he would be on tour and unavailable. We then talked to Marc Roberge about it, and he suggested OAR drummer Chris Culos - which would've been AWESOME - but scheduling those rehearsals with how unpredictable all of our day-to-days are seemed like it might be a nightmare.
We could've held open tryouts, or thrown some listings on Craigslist or something, but I decided to call up my best friend Dom - who actually played drums in my middle school pop punk band….
He's a complete monster behind the kit who grew up idolizing the likes of Danny Carey and Gavin Harrison, and currently plays in a crazy improv band called Weibaba - so this four-chord 4/4 pop punk shit is a piece of cake for him.
We had one three-hour practice with Dom the night before Pizzafest, and we were locked and loaded for the fest.
We all drove down (or in PFT's case, flew down) on Friday and got familiar with Ocean City. There's three things in the whole town: beach stores called 'Sunsations', candy stores, and mini golf courses. Seriously - there's 19 courses in this one stretch!
Oh, and Seacrets. Everyone loves Seacrets. Biggest bar East of the Mississippi. I heard that a hundred times this weekend.
Dom and I went down to the festival to pick up our credentials and check out a few artists at the festival, and we saw some INCREDIBLE sets from Third Eye Blind, Alanis Morisette, and OAR.
Third Eye Blind and OAR were both playing on the stage Pup Punk would be on less than 24 hours later, and seeing them both CRUSH to that sea of thousands was equal parts inspiring and intimidating….
Alanis Morisette was on the "main" stage on Friday night, and considering she's been on my concert bucket list forever, she was easily the most anticipated set of the weekend for me.
I don't even care if you want to take my man card for that - Alanis fuckin slaps and Jagged Little Pill is an all-time debut album.
I'm happy to report that Alanis was amazing and couldn't have lived up to the hype any more. She had such an unreal presence on stage and just came off like a total rockstar the whole set.
Afterwards, we went back to our hotel bar and partied with some Stoolies that came down for the show, and then got a few hours of sleep before the big day.
On Saturday, we were picked up from our hotel at 10:50am for soundcheck, and were scheduled to play from 1:15-2:00pm….
Arriving backstage and seeing our trailer right next to Dispatch and right across from Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs (formerly of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) was insane, but stepping on stage and soundchecking was even crazier….
Turns out playing music with your friends loud enough for someone to hear you a couple football fields away is fucking awesome.
We soundchecked 'My Real Girlfriend' with Rone and Kelly Clarkson's 'Since U Been Gone' with Caroline, and then went back to the green room to try and shake the last-minute jitters out before we took the stage.
It took all of 10 minutes for us to start feeling antsy in our little trailer, though, so we stepped outside for some fresh air, and were met by Marc Roberge and Jerry DePizzo from OAR. They dropped by to wish us luck and thank us for agreeing to do the festival, and really did their best to convince us that we were actually doing them a favor and not the other way around here. They're the best.
Jason Biggs and Robert Irvine walked over and came into the conversation outta the clouds a few minutes later, too, and before I knew it, we're describing Pup Punk to them and trying to convince 'em to come watch our set!
Once it hit 1:10pm, the band headed towards the stage - where we already could see the biggest crowd we'd ever played in front of waiting for us - and we all gave each other hugs and wished each other luck.
It's hard to describe what it was actually like to play our set without sounding corny, but honestly, those 45 minutes were some of the most fun I've ever had in my life. It almost felt like a fever dream, even. I'd look out to the crowd and see thousands of happy faces (including loved ones, shoutout Mama Fox and Lady Fox) singing along to our stuff, look over to the band and see my best friends having the time of their lives playing our favorite songs, and then turn back to the kit and see my childhood pal Dom holding it down. Then I turned to the side of the stage and Jason Biggs was standing there, rocking the fuck out with Marc Roberge - who was cheering us on as well!
The longer we played, the more our crowd grew and grew, and by the end of our set, I could barely see where it ended on one side. It was completely and totally surreal in every sense of the word. It was almost like for those 45min, we were a real band. We had the huge sound, we brought the good vibes, we had the whole crowd singing along to our set, and I really think we got the day started on the right foot.
Here was our setlist:
1. The Anthem - Good Charlotte
2. Scotty Doesn't Know - Lustra
3. Dammit - Blink 182
4. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
5. My Real Girlfriend - Pup Punk
6. All Star - Smash Mouth
7. Good 4 U - Olivia Rodrigo
8. Peaked In High School - Pup Punk
9. Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish
10. Mr. Brightside - The Killers
11. Love Story - Taylor Swift
12. All The Small Things - Blink 182
Don't get me wrong - we're still a jokey in-house Barstool cover band at the end of the day, and I'm not stupid; I know we're not the REAL DEAL - but for those 45 minutes, it certainly felt like we gave the people what they came for and delivered.
After the set, I got to go hang out with my mom, my cousin, and my girlfriend for a little, and then we went and saw the best slate of bands I've ever seen in a single day: Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs, Gin Blossoms, Sheryl Crow, Dispatch, Jimmy Eat World, Incubus, and John Mayer. It was the perfect day.
We watched Dispatch and Jimmy Eat World from side stage, and both bands tore the house down….
Obviously, Incubus put on one of the most kick ass rock n' roll shows imaginable….
….and John Mayer was the perfect headliner and cap to the night, playing a perfect setlist and absolutely shredding on an acoustic guitar for hours….
I've been to a lot of concerts and music festivals in my life, but never have I had as much fun as I did at Oceans Calling on Saturday. I'll be there next year whether Pup Punk's on the bill or not!
Special thanks to Marc Roberge and OAR once again for putting on the festival of a lifetime and inviting us to be apart of it, to Nate for suggesting us to Marc in the first place, and to Pat aka THE BEAV for being the best manager a band could ask for!