Pennywise - Metropolis Fremantle, 3rd November 2017
Words: Todd Lockley
It's only been two years since Pennywise did the "cash cow of nostalgia" tour with About Time to celebrate it's 20-year anniversary. This time the visit to Metropolis Fremantle was a very different affair; celebrating the 20th anniversary of arguably their best album, Full Circle. It was not a school night (two years ago we celebrated on a Thursday), so seeing that this gig was on Friday evening, the mild mannered soiree of the previous celebration was pushed out the way for this full throttled, aggression filled affair.
The entree for the evening was Californian hardcore punk outfit The Bronx. Having never heard or experienced the band before, I was a little sceptical on what they had ordered, however I was punched in the face with a dining experience like no other. These guys are punk rock as fuck! Wasting no time at all in moving from the stage to the middle of the pit, front man Matt Caughthran took all attention away from the stage as he blasted through most of the set from the Metros dance floor, surrounded by friends and fans from afar. Sore Throat, Heart Attack American and The Unholy Hand were quick fire blasted out with frenetic pace.
It wasn't til six songs deep that Caughthran joined his band mates on stage and we could appreciate what else was going on in the Bronx. These guys were fucking brilliant! "Make some real motherfucking noise" was the demand as song of the set Youth Wasted saw a sea of crowd surfers sliding above bouncing souls. It was a marathon affair; 16 songs for a support act would be ludicrous in any other setting, but the energy shown deserved respect. "No rest for the wicked, no stone upturned, get the fuck up!" roared Caughthran as he once again skipped off stage to join his followers. They Will Kill Us All and History's Stranglers rounded out one of the most solid support sets I've ever seen.
The Bronx obviously enjoyed themselves, with Caughthran high fiving his way backstage, stopping off along the way to give one lucky pretty girl a hug. What more could you ask for? I have to mention the band’s "cable guy" who made sure the singer had enough lead to his microphone every time he went to slay the dance floor. Magnificent effort indeed!
The entree for the evening was Californian hardcore punk outfit The Bronx. Having never heard or experienced the band before, I was a little sceptical on what they had ordered, however I was punched in the face with a dining experience like no other. These guys are punk rock as fuck! Wasting no time at all in moving from the stage to the middle of the pit, front man Matt Caughthran took all attention away from the stage as he blasted through most of the set from the Metros dance floor, surrounded by friends and fans from afar. Sore Throat, Heart Attack American and The Unholy Hand were quick fire blasted out with frenetic pace.
It wasn't til six songs deep that Caughthran joined his band mates on stage and we could appreciate what else was going on in the Bronx. These guys were fucking brilliant! "Make some real motherfucking noise" was the demand as song of the set Youth Wasted saw a sea of crowd surfers sliding above bouncing souls. It was a marathon affair; 16 songs for a support act would be ludicrous in any other setting, but the energy shown deserved respect. "No rest for the wicked, no stone upturned, get the fuck up!" roared Caughthran as he once again skipped off stage to join his followers. They Will Kill Us All and History's Stranglers rounded out one of the most solid support sets I've ever seen.
The Bronx obviously enjoyed themselves, with Caughthran high fiving his way backstage, stopping off along the way to give one lucky pretty girl a hug. What more could you ask for? I have to mention the band’s "cable guy" who made sure the singer had enough lead to his microphone every time he went to slay the dance floor. Magnificent effort indeed!
Once the Bronx had cleared out that familiar "Woooooooah, oh oh oh's" of that ever so popular Hymn by Pennywise filled every crevice of Metropolis. It was only a short break before Jim, Fletch, Byron and Randy took to the stage and Pennywise were ready to fuck shit up! And as previously mentioned, the crowd were not there to fuck spiders, so when Full Circle commenced those who had no tomorrow to worry about let loose.
By second song Date with Destiny, the crowd surfers were a little excessive and a riot between bouncers and fuckwits (both similar in mind set) was well and truly on the cards. Things were a little too brutal, at which point the legend that is Jim Lindberg stepped to the mic to try and calm the over zealous "We’re all here to have a good time yeah?!".
Album highlights Society and Broken were as tight and punchy as ever as the capacity crowd sung along, word for word. Shoes, hats and limbs flailed all over the show. Even Lindberg unwittingly almost landed a surprise plastic cup on the brim of his hat during the ferocity. Pennywise stayed true to the Full Circle set, so there were really no surprises throughout, just energy and passion. A circle pit was demanded for What If I and continued through til album closer Did You Really.
Classic Same Old Story kicked off the encore followed by an epic cover of the Circle Jerks Wild in the Streets, which had the extremely large Fletcher Dragge wailing on his guitar that always looks extremely tiny by comparison. Their name sake song Pennywise followed before the staple sing-along Down Under had all in attendance bouncing and singing along.
A quick call of “what do you want to hear next?” resulted in a short deviation from the intended setlist, with Fuck Authority from Land of the Free sounding crisp as ever. Yet another cover, the oft played but much loved Stand By Me, signalled the beginning of the end, before the song everyone goes to see Pennywise for, Bro Hymn brought proceedings to a memorable end.
Two solid acts putting on effortlessly amazing shows in the best suburb in the West. Pennywise released seven more albums after Full Circle. We can only hope we get this ‘mistreatment’ seven more times.
By second song Date with Destiny, the crowd surfers were a little excessive and a riot between bouncers and fuckwits (both similar in mind set) was well and truly on the cards. Things were a little too brutal, at which point the legend that is Jim Lindberg stepped to the mic to try and calm the over zealous "We’re all here to have a good time yeah?!".
Album highlights Society and Broken were as tight and punchy as ever as the capacity crowd sung along, word for word. Shoes, hats and limbs flailed all over the show. Even Lindberg unwittingly almost landed a surprise plastic cup on the brim of his hat during the ferocity. Pennywise stayed true to the Full Circle set, so there were really no surprises throughout, just energy and passion. A circle pit was demanded for What If I and continued through til album closer Did You Really.
Classic Same Old Story kicked off the encore followed by an epic cover of the Circle Jerks Wild in the Streets, which had the extremely large Fletcher Dragge wailing on his guitar that always looks extremely tiny by comparison. Their name sake song Pennywise followed before the staple sing-along Down Under had all in attendance bouncing and singing along.
A quick call of “what do you want to hear next?” resulted in a short deviation from the intended setlist, with Fuck Authority from Land of the Free sounding crisp as ever. Yet another cover, the oft played but much loved Stand By Me, signalled the beginning of the end, before the song everyone goes to see Pennywise for, Bro Hymn brought proceedings to a memorable end.
Two solid acts putting on effortlessly amazing shows in the best suburb in the West. Pennywise released seven more albums after Full Circle. We can only hope we get this ‘mistreatment’ seven more times.