If the experience of The Fest is akin to a giant family or class reunion, playing your band’s final show is like giving your own eulogy. Forgive Chumped lead singer Anika Pyle, then, for nearly succumbing to her emotions in front of a packed house at Wooly’s.
There may not have been a more emotionally charged performance the entire weekend. Tour mates Jeff Rosenstock, members of Worriers and other Fest musicians watched from stage side as the Brooklyn pop punk quartet launched into “Eleanor” for a final time. A throng of fans thrashed in front of them. With such a show of support, credit Pyle for holding it together.
By many accounts, Chumped was one of the up and coming punk acts leading into Fest. In two short years, it released a pair of standout EPs and a full-length record. The band’s 2014 album Teenage Retirement was a kind of breakout, and led to 2015 tours with Rosenstock and The Menzingers. Yet, news of their indefinite hiatus dropped the day before their Nov. 1 set via the band’s Twitter page, making it one of the must-see sets of the weekend.
See Chumped perform “Eleanor” below from a heartbreaking final set.