Gym Class Heroes, K-OS, RX Bandits, P.O.S.
The Irving Theater
Wednesday, March 14, 6 p.m., $12-$14, all-ages

Gym Class Heroes have come a long way. What started out as just four friends goofing around with music in a basement in upstate New York has turned into an iTunes and MySpace phenomenon.

After recording its first album, The Papercut Chronicles, in 2003, the then-label-less group sent tracks to a friend in Chicago who played them for Pete Wentz, the bassist for the mall-punk, crossover hit machine Fall Out Boy. Wentz fell head over heels for the pop-infused hip-hop sound of the band.

However, GCH is not your typical hip-hop group. Sampling and loops are kept to a minimum in exchange for live instrumentation. It’s the live music that is behind the popularity of the band with the punk community. While acts like Ludacris and T.I. may produce catchy jams, their use of samples is a turn-off to rock fans used to hearing the raw sound of instruments.

After endless touring in support of The Papercut Chronicles and receiving modest success from the single “Papercuts,” GCH returned to the studio to crank out a new album and to re-record “Cupid’s Chokehold.”

The song “blew up on its own between albums,” according to drummer Matt McGinley. “When we went to begin recording again, we had the option to re-record it to help push ‘School Children,’” he says. “It was something that people had liked but only towards the end of the promotion of Papercut Chronicles. It was also a chance to shoot a new video.”

Armed with a sure-fire hit, GCH dropped As Cruel as School Children in the summer of 2006, and then hit the Van’s Warped Tour. Nearly a year later, the album is still going strong.

“Cupid’s Chokehold” has been in the iTunes Top 10 for quite some time. Now that GCH has the weight to throw around, it’s heading out on its first full, headlining tour.

“We get to tour with bands that we handpicked this time,” McGinley says. “We wanted to make a tour that we would want to watch every night.”

GCH’s Daryl Hall for President Tour stops in Indianapolis on Wednesday, March 14. If you’ve been complaining about the drought of shows in Indianapolis, this just might be the one to shut you up.