CHECK OUT ALL THE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW HERE.
Before heading to this gig at Festival Hall, I made a few predictions. Pennywise will finish with people on the stage singing Bro Hymn, they’ll play Land Down Under, there’ll be a crazy circle pit. Lots of people will be wearing the well-known green t-shirt with their logo, there will be a few political statements about the war in Iraq and a couple of “Fuck Bush” lines thrown in too. And with Bowling For Soup on the menu, I predict their beefy lead guitarist is still dodging salads.
What I didn’t predict was a half hour wait to enter Festival Hall due to security checking everyone’s ID. Under other circumstances, I’d be flattered to be asked to prove my age, because essentially it’s saying I look seventeen. When I’m thirty-three and in a fucking hurry to get in, though, this type of bullshit pisses me off.
When finally entering the hall, I caught the last two songs of Bowling For Soup – Girls All The Bad Guys Want, and 1985. During those two songs I just couldn’t take my eyes off the big guy. Not because he’s as wide as a semi-trailer, but because his facial expressions and hand gestures had me constantly smirking. He’s a pisser! These guys were surprisingly entertaining.
After a quick set-up, The Vandals appeared pumped and ready. Their fast-paced pure punk tunes were strung together, and before I knew it, they’d played And Now We Dance, People That Are Going To Hell, I’ve Got An Ape Drape and The New You. They then pleased a receptive crowd with the theme song of Team America, with everyone pumping their fist in the air and shouting those classic three words “America, Fuck Yeah!” They finished off with Anarchy Burger, My Girlfriend’s Dead, the Queen cover Don’t Stop Me Now, and lead guitarist Warren Fitzgerald pulling off an impressive cartwheel.
Sum 41 fired up the crowd with AC/DC over the PA, and walking on stage just as TNT faded out. After some banter with the anxious crowd, they ripped through Underclass Hero, We’re All To Blame, and Over My Head (Better Off Dead). Following on with more crowd interaction, rhythm guitarist and lead singer Deryck Whibley pulled a guy out of the audience to prove his guitar skills. When asked to entertain us all with a blistering solo, the guy merely played a four-chord punk special, shaming himself dismally. It was up to another crowd member to regain some Aussie pride by beating Sum 41’s “beer guy” in sculling a stubby.
With these sorts of time-fillers out of the way, they continued with In Too Deep, Attitude by the Misfits, Welcome To Hell_, and finished with Fat Lip.
After more than three hours and twenty-odd songs later, Pennywise finally came on stage. They kicked off with As Long As We Can, the first song on their latest album Reason To Believe. Scattered amongst their seventeen-song set were two other new tunes One Reason and Die For You.
Even though their latest album is a cracker, Pennywise knows their audience, and predominantly delivered songs from the 90s, that could easily be described as their best of. They carved their way through Rules, Can’t Believe It, My Own Country, Straight Ahead, Pennywise, Fuck Authority, Society, Perfect People, Same Old Story, Living For Today and Broken.
Halfway into the set they paid tribute to Nirvana, by playing a great version of Territorial Pissings. As expected, they finished with Land Down Under, and a stage full of people helping them sing Bro Hymn. What an awesome gig.
