Concert Review: Sunny Day Real Estate Joins The Get Up Kids and Die Spitz at Spin Magazine’s Day Party

Spin Magazine hosted a four-hour day party filled with punk nostalgia and power chords. Joined by The Get Up Kids and Die Spitz, Sunny Day Real Estate played a full run of their album, Diary.

Written by Rachel Joy Thomas 

Photos courtesy of Amelia Tapia

Sunny Day Real Estate is a band known for drama and enigma. Even though the group barely gave interviews in the 1990s and maintained a visage of being “unknown,” they still graciously maintained a hold on the rock scene with their 1992 album, Diary. After they recorded their second album in 1995, the band separated, with lead vocalist Jeremy Engik moving to his solo career and other band members drifting to new bands with different expectations. Bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith would join Dave Grohl’s new band, Foo Fighters.

Then, they got back together again. Then, they broke up again, and now they’ve returned after many bumps in the road. The band went through many ups and downs almost cyclically, culminating in blips on the radar with no new recordings. Now, they’ve finally, officially returned with a new single, “Novum Vetus,” and a burgeoning tour across the United States, culminating in their appearance at Spin Magazine’s Day Party at Stubb’s on Saturday, March 16.

Before Sunny Day Real Estate hit the stage, however, up-and-coming and established bands opened for them.

At around 12:34 p.m., Die Spitz, a local Austin band that has become increasingly prolific, started their set. Before beginning their first song of the day, one of the band’s lead vocalists, Ellie Livingston, apologized quickly, noting that two of the band's four members were sick.

“We’re Die Spitz. I’m sorry if I sound like shit,” she said.

Even with that preface, concert-goers seemingly couldn’t tell that anyone in the group was sniffly, rocking out just as hard as they usually do alongside powerful lead vocals and loud, growling guitar chords. Die Spitz maintained an excellent stage presence, with power riffs coursing through the audience on a shared Fender Jaguar, performing crowd favorites like “Hair of Dog” and “Evangeline.” Intense wavelengths powered through a Fender Supersonic Amp to an excited audience, many waiting just to see one of Austin’s local heroes.

Next was the Kansas City-based The Get Up Kids. Playing favorites from their 25-year-old album, Something to Write Home About, the group blasted off with “Holiday,” a strong start to their cataclysmic, cacophonous set. They moved into a fiery walkthrough of the titular songs from their debut album, like “Action & Action” and “I’m a Loner Dottie, a Rebel.” Lead vocalist Matthew Pryor’s vocals had the slyest amount of gruffness but still remained slick, boyish, and angst-filled, reminding audiences the band still “has it” despite aging.

On songs like “Out of Reach” and “The Company Dime,” ballad-like chords resonated through a live keyboard, lightening the band’s more intense guitar chords. Myor, playing an Epiphone Riviera, gave the performance a uniquely classic sound with lots of adjustability as he switched between settings on his pedalboard. The group also used a Moog board on some songs, creating a whimsical synth overlay for these piano progressions alongside enjoyable, overlaid fingerstyle guitar patterns.

Finally, Sunny Day Real Estate hit the stage, starting with a song on Diary’s back end, “8,” and then running through each song in order.

“8” started with humming vocals and a high-pitched riff to introduce the audience to Diary. The track filled with momentum, shifting almost instantaneously into a high octane rock song with the easy push of a pedal on the pedal board. With every progression and movement, the track took on a more distorted and grungy sound. Goldsmith feverishly toyed with the hi-hat, filling in the song with excellent tom fills and bites of the snare drum.

For their melancholy starter, “In Circles,” the band started with a heavy rock sound alongside crashing cymbals. The bass bolstered the beginning, enticing listeners before shifting into a more low-key ambiance. The soft tapping harmonics of 8th notes on the cymbal carried the band into a crashing finish before settling down again, twisting listeners between a sense of brevity and complete immersion in the hard-rock sound.

“Round,” a song they had only played three other times, allowed guitarist Dan Hoerner to play a roaring guitar riff with various hammer-ons. Emotional turmoil filtered through lead vocalist Jeremy Enigk’s vocals as he sang, “I feel wrong, falling through you / Bind me, what’s wrong?” The crowd stirred, slowly knocking their heads back and forth to the track. Enigk slowly began to repeat the phrase “Round” as the band circled over the same patterns and progressions, ending the song on an emotional high as they returned to their existential phrasings. 

The slower piano on “Phuerton Skeurto,” alongside Chris Jordan’s bass strums, allowed the crowd to relax and reflect. Instead of constantly switching energy between a large amount of Diary’s tracklist, this song stuck to one mysterious, melancholy tone. Soft, terse lyrics from Jeremy Enigk balanced out the more modern-rock-forward songs immediately preceding and following it.

Goldsmith slid through “Shadows” with a sense of extreme scrutiny and a tightened grasp for brevity. His ability to balance drum fills, complex rhythms, and softer interludes showed an impressive attention to detail that elevated the entire band to a greater height of expression. The bass drum emulated a certain warmth and quality, possibly due to the unique Evans calftone drumhead attached to it. Tonally, the bass grounded the entire performance, feeling especially prominent on “Shadows.”

“Grendel” was another highlight of the day. Using feedback to formulate its unique introduction, the band slowly swayed into a melodramatic ambiance of the melodic guitar and a softer, harmonious bassline. The lull of the song’s beginning gave way, slowly breaking away from its softer origin into a more potent riff. Enigk’s discordant vocals introduced the track’s new era, providing flavor and depth through his amplified shrillness.

Finally, the encore concluded with their new track, “Novum Vetus,” a number that fits the older voices and mechanisms of the band to a greater extent than their discography from the ’90s. Despite its continued minor chord progressions, the winding song embodied a more positive outlook due to its methodical lyrics and more mature tonal instrumental shifts. The higher-pitched vocals from Enigk fit the simple lyrics, “The day we realized / That time is running down / Far removed / From the wounds.” These vocals had a reminiscent, timeless quality, tonally expressive of a more mature and expressive vision for the band’s future.

Through it all, Die Spitz, The Get Up Kids, and Sunny Day Real Estate gave an incredibly compelling show. There was only one fault with the show: the Sunny Day Real Estate tracks that didn’t make the cut. Compared to other tour dates, the shortened encore only included their newer track, “Novum Vetus,” which meant there wasn’t room for any songs from LP2 like “Rodeo Jones.” Remarkably, though, the performance kept an engaged and captivated audience, who were mesmerized by the ’90s band, respectfully and quietly leaving the venue once the show was done at 4:02 p.m.

The SPIN day party, with new players and old veterans of the music industry, showed off some of the best sub-genres of the rock scene with grace.