Toronto punk force PUP will mark one of the most significant weeks of their career with Megacity Madness (The Official Live Recordings), a new 13 track live album captured across six shows in their hometown earlier this year. The band, formed in Toronto in 2010 and known for their explosive catalogue from PUP through to Who Will Look After The Dogs?, returned to their earliest stages for a run that doubled as a victory lap through the venues that shaped them.
The quartet, Stefan Babcock, Nestor Chumak, Zack Mykula, and Steve Sladkowski, staged a “tour de Toronto”, beginning with a house show then climbing through increasingly larger rooms that mirrored their rise over the past decade. Special guests including Jeff Rosenstock and NOBRO joined the celebrations, turning each performance into an event that underlined PUP’s deep relationship with the Toronto scene.
The six night sequence saw PUP revisit rooms where they sharpened their teeth as a young band, drawing clear lines back to their earliest years as Topanga and their later transition into PUP, a name taken from a family joke about a “pathetic use of potential”. With a history stretching from basement shows through to international tours, PUP have remained anchored in the city that launched them.
Megacity Madness (The Official Live Recordings) preserves these shows across 13 tracks, each taken from a different stop on the tour. The album will be released exclusively on vinyl on 13 March 2026 through the band’s store and independent retailers. It will not appear on streaming platforms, but fans will have access to Megacity Shorts: A Touronto Rockumentary Series, a video project directed by Jeremy Schaulin Rioux and Clem Hoener documenting every night of the run.
Babcock says the tour made the band reflect on their long journey. “This week of shows was one of the best, most validating experiences we’ve ever had as a band,” he notes. “Standing on stage with my best friends made me realise how lucky we are to do this for a living.”
Accompanying the album is Megacity MegaZine, a 196 page visual edition created by photographers Bradley Golding and Vanessa Heins. Through essays, photo sequences, and historical context, the zine retraces the band’s connection to each Toronto venue across their lifespan, reinforcing how deeply their identity is tied to the city.
An interactive Megacity Madness website also expands the experience, including a map of every venue used throughout the band’s history and their July 2025 run.
Since arriving with their self-titled debut in 2013, PUP have built a formidable presence across punk, hardcore, pop punk, post hardcore and indie rock. Albums such as The Dream Is Over, Morbid Stuff, The Unraveling Of PUPTheBand, and their 2025 LP Who Will Look After The Dogs? have earned critical and commercial success while cementing their reputation as one of Canada’s most volatile live acts.
The band have been nominated for multiple Juno Awards, long-listed and short-listed for the Polaris Music Prize, and recognised by SOCAN for songwriting. They have toured heavily across North America, Europe, Australia and the UK, with festival appearances at Lollapalooza, Reading, Leeds, Osheaga, Riot Fest and more.
Their latest studio record Who Will Look After The Dogs? was created in Los Angeles with producer John Congleton, distilling the chaos and sharp humour that define Babcock’s writing. Across its 12 tracks he reflects on personal upheaval, relationships, and the blurred lines between survival and absurdity, all carried by arrangements that channel their livewire immediacy.
Tracklisting
Morbid Stuff
Kids
No Hope
Dark Days
Free At Last
Concrete
Sleep In The Heat
See You At Your Funeral
Hallways
Reservoir
Hunger For Death
If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will
DVP
Tour Dates
9 December, Waterloo ON, Maxwell’s Concerts & Events
11 December, London ON, London Music Hall
12 December, Oshawa ON, Bond|St Event Centre
13 December, Hamilton ON, Bridgeworks
26 to 28 June, Manchester UK, Outbreak Fest
28 June, London UK, Crystal Palace Park
8 to 11 July, Cheltenham UK, Zootrees Festival
With Snotty Nose Rez Kids, except Crystal Palace Park with The Offspring, Dropkick Murphys, Pennywise and Destroy Boys.
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