Live Review

The Eastpak Antidote Tour – Guildhall, Southampton

• 4th Nov 2010

The Eastpak Tour returns for it’s 6th instalment presenting fans with some of the best punk rock talent America and Canada has to offer, with old school favourites Sum 41 headlining.

Texas five-piece The Riverboat Gamblers warm up the audience with their straight up rock tunes. There’s no messing around with these lads, as they try and fit in as many songs as they can into their 30-minute set. With fast, intricate guitar riffs and slamming drumbeats, the sound is so powerful it sets the audience on fire. With mosh pits forming and teenagers jumping in unison, it made the audience hungry for more punk rock madness. Frontman Mike Wiebe is such a showman and his personality shines through his performance. He really let loose with his dance moves tonight. As he’d pace around the stage it was evident he was feeling every note in his body, almost as if he had electricity flowing through his veins.

But taking the atmosphere up a notch was original Pennywise vocalist Jim Lindberg’s new band The Black Pacific. If you’re just expecting a Pennywise show then think again. Yes the fast guitar licks and hooks are still there, but there’s now so much more. Combing a variety of different sounds to coincide with their punk rock vibe, the songs feature huge choruses that really got the crowd buzzing. Considering it was only their 8th show performing as a band, it was a very slick and solid performance. The Black Pacific is a fine example of a group of musicians being able to come together and just click so perfectly in such a short space of time. The energy levels were impressive considering they’d spent most of the day sleeping, with guitarist Marc Orrell jumping around the stage with so much velocity he was close to falling over. Lindberg was here to prove himself, and he certainly won a few hearts over.

The wait for Sum 41 to come on seemed liked forever, but when they finally did make an appearance, they didn’t disappoint. With Deryck Whibley surprisingly sporting black hair, I’m sure those fans at the back thought they might have walked into a Greenday concert! Sum 41 represent everything you want from a lively, fun punk rock show with their pop punk guitar riffs fused with crashing drums, it was smiles all round. The set began with some of their newer material, including “ScumFuck” which is a little more alternative rock compared to their usual hits but still just as catchy. But it wasn’t long before they dived into their old school classics like “Fat Lip” and “Motivation” which had the crowd going wild. Even the group of lucky fans who got to witness the performance from the side of the stage were dancing fanatically. From drenching the crowd in water to covering the stage in spit throughout, Whibley definitely put his heart and soul into tonight’s performance. Was a little bit surprising more songs weren’t played from the Underclass Hero album, but being treated to a rendition of “Paint It Black” and “Pain For Pleasure” certainly made up for it. It was a joy to see that even though they’ve aged and matured, they still dress and act exactly the same as they did over ten years ago rocking the skater look.

I left the show feeling 14 again.