Your first question about that headline may well be “Palatine?” Palatine: a city of about 65,000 people located about one hour northwest of Chicago by car. The distance may have intimidated city slickers, but still they came, pouring off the nearby Metra train with high hopes for an incredible bill of classic emo-punk music.

Saves the Day started the night off and debuted their new line-up for the Illinois crowd. With lead singer Chris Conley as the only remaining original member of the band, nobody really knew what to expect. But any doubts were quickly dispelled by the energy the new recruits brought to the stage, particularly Arun Bali on guitar. A tall, rangy man, his limbs seemed less a part of his body than an extension of his guitar, and he bent and grooved into the music as he played, adding some artistic flair to older pieces. Also entertaining was Claudio Rivera on drums, whose hair flailed and flopped with every striking drumbeat he hit. His energy on percussion did a lot to liven up the sound.

Classic songs came out the most lively they’ve been in years, particularly fan favorite “Shoulder to the Wheel”, which featured a slipped-in guitar slide from Bali that brought things back to their punk rock roots. Saves the Day also played plenty of material from their 1984 EP and forthcoming release Daybreak, and the crowd seemed attuned to the newer music as well. Particularly well received were “1984” and “Let It All Go”.

Conley, hair shorn short like a teenager’s, grinned throughout the whole show; clearly he’d been anticipating this moment for some time. Musicians often say optimistic things, like new band members will make things “fresh” again (as Conley said in our May interview), but in this case he clearly knew what he was talking about. Energized and back to life, Saves the Day played an 18-song set before closing things out with a punky version of “At Your Funeral”.

The Get Up Kids came on next with plenty of attitude, and played a well-mixed, big, loud set. The band’s excitement came through in their physical movements, with lead singer Matt Pryor nearly toppling over at one point during their opening number.  Guitarist Jim Suptic grinned maniacally and danced around, and the band’s enthusiasm carried over to the crowd, who clearly appreciated the set choices. Peppered with classic GUK songs and material from 2011’s There Are Rules, the setlist was both diverse and gratifying. “I’m a Loner Dottie, A Rebel” scorched with big-balled guitar, sweat rolling down Pryor’s face as he played. “Regent’s Court”, their latest single, and “Pararelevant” both rocked pretty hard, although the crowd didn’t necessarily seem very familiar with the newer material.

A quieter moment came on Suptic’s haunting version of “Campfire Kansas”, the best iteration this reviewer has seen him do. Pryor himself also seemed impressed, asking the crowd to give Suptic a second round of applause. A later song opened with a fiddling synth line, spooling around playfully until it finally broke open into GUK classic (and normally synth-free) “Overdue”, just one example of the Kids successfully melding their newer sound with their older material to form a cohesive set.

The set ended in an odd place, on quiet chin-scratcher “Walking On a Wire”, obviously ensuring an encore. The band came back out with an amusing cover of Blur’s “Girls & Boys”, featuring a laughing Suptic on vocals, clearly loving the novelty of it, and the whole band dancing around to the improvised synth effects. The set closed out with a rousing version of classic “Ten Minutes” that had the whole crowd jazzed.  The whole show roared with so much energy that you’d never have guessed these two bands are both fifteen year-plus veterans who inspired many of the younger bands they tour alongside. Then again, when you’ve got this kind of sound and enthusiasm, age is only a number, baby.

Saves the Day setlist
Firefly
Shoulder to the Wheel
1984
Anywhere With You
Let It All Go
The End
What Went Wrong
Dying Day
Deranged and Desperate
Can’t Stay the Same
Living Without Love
Freakish
Eulogy
Kaleidoscope
Z
Nightingale
Undress Me
At Your Funeral

Get Up Kids setlist
Action and Action
I’m A Loner Dottie, A Rebel
Regent’s Court
Woodson
The One You Want
Overdue
Pararelevant
Red Letter Day
No Love
Holy Roman
Automatic
Off the Wagon
Shorty
Campfire Kansas
Rememorable
Don’t Hate Me
Walking on a Wire
Encore:
Girls & Boys (Blur cover)
Ten Minutes