Sum 41
Warped tour is like a giant CD sampler only its live. Lets face it we have half hour sets of a zillion bands in the case of this particular venue the stage was split in half so as 1 band finished, the next would begin, just turn your head to the other side. Cool huh? No lags in ‘gimme now’ society. But also no pyro no lighting no nothing showy- the band some amps and……….some fans who won the right to stand there (why anyone would want that is beyong me. Its like when some boyfriend sings to you at a gig… youre like wtf am I supposed to do but sway and smile.
Note the crowd in this photo— event of their life, yet a hint of WTH and not one smile.
Sum 41 are the epitome of ‘gimme now’. Green Day-ish, but seemingly older. They cater to that college crowd who play beer pong and scream WOOOOOOOOOO at shows drink too much throw up grow up, end up working in insurance or something.
So why can I say Sum 41 is cool and Green Day is not?
Cuz Sum 41 is going to give you what you want. Again, they wont preach they’re gonna curse and spit and leave you with ringing ears.
The interesting thing I found here is Sum 41 is punk rock on training wheels. There’s no wall of death but its good crowd surfing music for girls and the boys are there willing to hoist them.
Nothing that aggressive, more talk less action. Pretty much the quintessential ‘safe’ punk that your mom will worry about if you hang up their poster, but not enough for them to call you in a shrink (see previous post on The Casualties- moms calling the help line on that one)
But they did a GREAT job in a very abbreviated set, pumped out the hits like ‘Fat Lip’ and well they had nice smiles.