As the old adage goes: If you name your song after Lou Barlow, then Lou Barlow will appear in the music video for said song. Or something like that. Of course, when the Get Up Kids included “Lou Barlow” on their first album in eight years, Problems, they had no expectations for the ’90s rock legend to actually take notice, but take notice he did, enough for them to get together in New York City and shoot a music video for it at the Bowery Ballroom.

When we interviewed the band’s Matt Pryor back when the album was released, he talked a little bit about how the song came together:

I came up with this stupid lyric (‘I saw Lou Barlow in the street/ I don’t think he noticed me’) and the song kinda wrote itself. Once you put Lou Barlow in a song, you just can’t take him away. You can’t have that ‘Lou Barlow song’ that doesn’t have Lou Barlow in it.

The music video shows Barlow trying to get into a sold-out Get Up Kids show, first trying to show the door person that a song on the album is named after him and later trying to get backstage. As Barlow said in a press statement: “I acted the shit out of that.”

Pryor added: “We kept joking how hilarious it would be if we could get Lou Barlow to be in the video for ‘Lou Barlow.’ It was absolute luck that we both happened to be in New York on the same day. When he agreed, we were thrilled. When we saw how much he put into the video, we were floored. He was amazing.”

Watch below.

TOUR DATES:
11/13 Denver, CO @ Oriental Theater $
11/14 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge $
11/15 Boise, ID @ The Shredder $
11/16 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge $
11/17 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile $
11/19 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall $
11/20 Fresno, CA @ Strummer’s $
11/21 Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex $
11/22 Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction $
11/23 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar $
11/24 Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom $
12/04 Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Bar & Grill #
12/05 Austin, TX @ Barracuda #
12/06 Houston, TX @ Secret Group #
12/07 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks #
12/08 Memphis, TN @ Growlers #
12/10 St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill Duck Room #
12/11 Newport, KY @ The Southgate House Revival #
12/12 Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop #
12/13 Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theater #
12/14 Buffalo, NY @ Buffalo Riverworks @ ‘Tid The Season
12/15 Ferndale, MI @ Loving Touch #
02/23 Kansas City, MO @ The Truman %
02/25 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue %
02/26 Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave %
02/28 Chicago, IL @ House of Blues %
02/29 Chicago, IL @ House of Blues %
03/01 Chicago, IL @ House of Blues %
03/03 Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall %
03/04 Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall %
03/06 Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall %
03/07 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE %
03/10 New York, NY @ Webster Hall %
03/11 New York, NY @ Webster Hall %
03/13 Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom %
03/14 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club %
03/15 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club %
03/17 Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts %
03/18 Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts %
03/20 Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club %
03/21 Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club %
03/22 Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club %
03/26 Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues %
03/27 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Heaven Stage) %
03/28 Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium %
$ w/ Kevin Devine, The Whiffs
# w/ Hembree, Sontalk
% w/ Dashboard Confessional

Problems is out now via Polyvinyl.