Even a dream job can become a tired practice after a while, especially if it's all you've known.

The Starting Line, who will be headlining tonight's show at Lulu's Nightspot has been playing since its members were in high school, and after nearly a decade of playing together, the band has decided to "take a break," according to a message on the band's Web site that has been disseminated through other online media outlets.

Basically, even after signing with Capitol-owned imprint Virgin Records, the Starting Line wants to see what else is out there, at least for a little while.

Before that, though, the band is going for one last tour, and it's kicking it off in its home state.

"It's the first day of their national tour," said Ted Swanson, the promoter of tonight's show. "How could you say 'no' to that?"

Swanson said he didn't know what the Starting Line's future held, but with the success the Philadelphia band has had in the past -- opening for All-American Rejects at the Bryce Jordan Center in 2006, and headlining a show at Crowbar the year before -- he is excited about tonight.

"I'm just glad they're here this time," he said. "I hope they'll come back again and again."

Bayside, one of tonight's openers, has been around for almost as long as the Starting Line, but Bayside bassist Nick Ghanbarian said his band has no intention of slowing down for a while.

"We're always happy because of how much work we put in," Ghanbarian said. "We know whatever we get back is deserved."

Ghanbarian said Bayside has played with the Starting Line a few times before, but this would be the first time doing a "real tour with them." Ghanbarian, a big fan of the band's music, said he understands where its members are coming from in regard to its upcoming break.

"The music industry will take its toll on you," he said. "You can only be self-sufficient at that level for so long before you have to start learning about adult things."

For Ghanbarian, that time is a long ways off, but he knows it can come eventually, given how hard it is to "make it" in the music industry.

"We just want to play music for our lives, but you have to get to a point where you can live as an adult," he said. "You can't be 35 and eating ramen in your parents' basement."

Austen Talbot (sophomore-psychology) said he is going to the show tonight mostly to see Bayside, although he said he is into the Starting Line and Four Year Strong, one of the other openers, as well.

Talbot said he first discovered Bayside a few years ago, when he saw them opening for another band he went to see. Since then, he's been a fan of what he called Bayside's "unique, dark sound that's still catchy and accessible."

"It's been cool to see them grow from their first album to where they are now," he said.