Sum 41 at Birmingham Academy
Sum 41 – Birmingham Academy – 2 November 2010
Support: Veara, Riverboat Gamblers and The Black Pacific
Words by Jemma Dodd/ Photos by Matthew Higgs
Tonight the Eastpak Antidote Tour hit Birmingham’s 02 Academy with a four band line-up of great punk rock bands. Opening up tonight were ‘Veara’, a four piece band from Georgia, USA. The bands’ music has catchy lyrics and clearly states punk, pop, rock. ‘Veara’ had bounds of energy, especially the bassist who was absolutely mental in his performance, running about the stage and barely stopping for a second. Although the main room of the academy is yet to be filled, there are still many nodding of heads from the crowd who seem to enjoy the band and cheer after every song. ‘Veara’ end with a great reception, and even more screams as female drummer, Brittany, throws out some drumsticks.
Second in tonight’s line-up are Texas band ‘Riverboat Gamblers’ who appear to have a more indie streak to their music, similar to that of ‘The Hives’ but still remain punk, rock enough for this crowd. ‘Riverboat Gamblers’ hit if off instantly with masses of energy. Lead singer, ‘Mike Wiebe’ runs about the stage constantly dancing and bouncing along. The energy from this band is definitely the type I like to see a band play with, clearly enjoying every moment of the performance themselves, as well as ensuring the crowd do too. ‘Mike Wiebe’ spends most of the set, rocking it up and throwing his mic about the stage, and finally ends by diving into the crowd and being carried along during the final song, a great way to end a set.
‘The Black Pacific’ (featuring former ‘Pennywise’ front man ‘Jim Landberg’), are the final band to warm up tonight’s crowd before the main act. They enter on stage with attitude and instantly have the room cheering. Jim demands to know if the crowd are ready, which again creates more screams and shouts from the audience. Even those who don’t seem to know this band are enjoying their performance, whether it be jumping along or the simple head nodding. Throughout their songs ‘The Black Pacific’ have the whole room clapping along. Towards the end of their set Jim asks the crowd if there are any old school rockers left and then the band break into a performance of The Ramones ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’. On breaking his mic stand ‘Jim Landberg’ ends up leaving behind his guitar and sticks to singing while patrolling the stage. A quick Nirvana riff is played and then the last song, which again has the band pumping mental amounts of energy and gets the crowd moving.
As the lights go down ready for the EastPak Antidotes headliners, Sum 41, the anticipation in the room can be filled, chants of Sum 41 start to get louder and louder.
Tonight was a night I had been looking forward to for quite a while, seeing a band I have liked from a younger age always takes me back.
Walking out on stage in a casual manner, the band kicked straight in with ‘Hell Song’ a perfect way to open in order to get the crowd moving straight away. As the band prepares to start their next song ‘We’re all to blame’ Deryck Whibley spends a few minutes gathering fans on stage to watch the show from side stage. This ends in masses of crowd surfing as fans fight and force their way to the front to get the chance to be on stage. Even though I was in the photo pit at this stage, I myself wanted to join in and fight my way onto the stage, the atmosphere brought about by this exciting opportunity had clearly reached out to everyone.
Even though it’s only been about 10 minutes since the band have been on stage Deryck dives off stage in order to get fans to sing along to ‘Direction’ another fast beat song that sends the crowd crazy. ‘Walking Disaster’ has the whole room clapping along, and as the band announce the arrival of their new album they take the opportunity to play a new song ‘skumfuck’ which although may not have been heard yet by fans, still has them going mental and jumping about. The same goes for ‘Motivation’ another hit that gets them moving without even thinking.
Having asked the crowd if they like several bands, they break into a cut from Metallica’s ‘Master Of Puppets’ which the crowd seem to enjoy. It’s clear tonight that either Deryck likes to get people on stage or just enjoys seeing people fight their way to the front, as more and more fans are brought up on stage during ‘Underclass Hero’ making this show a definate highlight in the fans’ epic gigs to remember list! ‘Over My Head’ has the room filled with hands in the air and a wave of jumping throughout. The newer member on guitar ‘Tom Thacker’ is then introduced to tonight’s crowd and plays a quick ‘Paint it black’ by The Rolling Stones, just before it kicks off again with the hit single ‘Fat lip’. Every fan old or new has this song in their favourites, the chorus is sung back to the band creating an amazing atmosphere. Before heading off stage, ‘Still Waiting’ ends in several circle pits and masses of movement in the crowd.
The instant the band go off stage, chants of ‘we want more’ are heard and the whole room echoes in clapping as Deryck appears on stage alone. He takes a moment to slow down the madness and play ‘Perfect’ one of my favourites of theirs, it has everyone swaying and the atmosphere has completely changed from before. The rest of the band gradually appear on stage to finish the song alongside Deryck and end the show with ‘In too deep’ and ‘Pain for Pleasure’. ‘In too deep’ has the whole room going mad for one last time line after line sang back. Sum 41 then bring the night to an end with ‘Pain for Pleasure’ as Deryck switches with drummer ‘Steve Jocz’ who takes front stage and sings. The crowd scream back the lyrics, the jumping starts and the circle pits form. Sum 41 one have definitely made tonight something special and to be remembered.
