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| GREAT BIG ROCK JAM Published by Erika The Red � 2005 (Graphic donated by Don Berryman) |
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| February 15, 2005 - Page 3 |
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| �SUM F�N GREAT, B�YS!� Review of the February 10/05 Sum 41 Concert at Mile One Stadium, St. John's, NL By D. Wells (assisted by D. Skiffington and A. Wells) The line-up had already begun when we walked by Mile One around 3:00 p.m. By the time we got back there, around 6:30, the line-up had reached almost past City Hall. The average age was roughly 15, and the fashion of the day paid an ode to old-school rocker Phil Collins, i.e. �no jacket required� - brrr! The show started promptly (with �No Warning�) and kick-started an already hyper crowd into a frenzy of bodysurfing, moshing and pogoing for the duration. While the set by No Warning was short but frantic, these guys served as a warning to any of us not willing to participate in the crowd gymnastics on the floor to make a quick getaway to the relative safety of the stands. We ran for our lives as soon as possible! Black Maria (pronounced �ma-rye-a�) was exceptionally impressive, but they couldn�t hold a candle to the anticipation building from the crowd for their rock heroes, Sum 41. Also deserving of a big round of applause was a line-up of sturdy bodyguards who good-naturedly kept their cool assisting the constant stream of bodysurfers, male and female, over the fence (obviously just a suggestion) in front of the stage. �Sum 41 rocked!�, said my 13-year-old son, Angus, after attending his first official rock concert. His stepsister, Deanna, 12 years old and also making a debut appearance at a stadium concert, chatted excitedly on the phone for hours afterwards, already making plans to complement her Sum 41 T-shirt with a poster. Unfortunately, our attempts to get the T-shirts autographed were in vain � no �meet and greet�. The feature band was introduced by way of a gory video featuring �a bit of the old ultra-violence�, which I was a bit shocked to see, if only because of the enthusiastic reaction from this young crowd � yikes! Although I wasn�t personally familiar with many of their songs, Angus informed me that Sum 41 played songs from the three newest of their five CDs. Deanna wished they could have played longer than their hour-and-a-half set. It wasn�t difficult to figure out why this patriotic band is so popular � even an old rocker like myself could hear influences (however subliminal) by the Sex Pistols, Motorhead, Kiss, Triumph, Cheap Trick and Nirvana, and they even paid a tribute to The King (Elvis) with a manic version of �That�s Alright, Mama�. I wasn�t too impressed with the misogynist nod to a particular blonde of questionable intelligence, but they do tell it like it is. In this regard, Angus commented, �Burn!�, whatever that means. What especially ingratiated them to the crowd is when lead singer/guitarist Deryck, at one point, appeared at the far end of the general-admission crowd, which filled two-thirds of the room, perched himself behind a keyboard and announced, �This is front row now!� Drummer Stevo, who deserves an award for his unstoppable endurance on the kit, took a great turn on the mike, switching places with Deryck, during an encore set. Speaking of encores, I was actually surprised to see the band return to the stage, because, in my days of rockin�, if the whole place didn�t cheer and whistle until they were hoarse, the show was over � period. Apparently this does not apply today, but kudos to the band for giving us the bonus thrills! Deanna summed them up as �the hottest people ever!� [Photos to be posted in the near future - if you have any of your own to donate, email me.] |
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