The Offspring and Sum 41 Montreal Concert Review

90's Punk Rock fans were in for a treat with Sum 41 and The Offspring taking the stage at Place Bell last night.

Over the years, Sum 41 have experienced many changes, but one thing that has remained the same is their high energy shows. Kicking things off with Turning Away off of their most recent album Order In Decline, they followed it up with two of their old school hits, The Hell Song, and Motivation. 

Fans got another taste of their newer songs with Out For Blood, and A Death In The Family. Giving the crowd a chance to catch their breath during the first verse of Walking Disaster, the break was short lived as the chorus kicked in. That energy continued through to their cover of the Queen hit, We Will Rock You.

Deryck Whibley is the epitome of what a frontman should be. From his interactions with the crowd, to his ability to shift focus from himself to the rest of the band, and his overall energy, he truly was a pleasure to watch. That being said, the rest of the band were also a treat. Guitarist Dave Baksh shredded solos alongside Tom Thacker. Bassist Cone McCaslin used the stage as his playground, while drummer Frank Zummo showed fans why he won the Alternative Press Best Drummer award in 2017.

Towards the end of their performance of Underclass Hero, Whibley challenged the left and the right side of the crowd to see who was louder. Not wanting to leave the back of the arena left out, he made his way to the soundboard to hear what they had to offer. Suffice it to say, the loudness winner of the night was Place Bell as a whole.

Staying in the crowd, their song Pieces was up next which included some great sing a longs. Going from one of their most chill songs to one of their most energetic, Over My Head came next. Keeping the tempo up, In Too Deep and Fat Lip followed. Sadly all good things eventually come to an end; Still Waiting capped off their solid set

The Offspring

21 years ago, The Offspring released their album Americana, so it's only fitting that they started off the night with the title track from it. Throughout the night, frontman Dexter Holland and guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman shared playful banter much to the delight of the crowd.

All I Want and Come Out and Play were up next followed by Want You Bad, and Original Prankster. Even though The Offspring have a large catalogue of songs to choose from, they decided cover the Ramones song Blitzkrieg Bop, as well as Whole Lotta Rosie from AC/DC. The crowd energy throughout the night was palpable.

The famous Ole Ole chant started up after the covers, and you could see that the band was taken aback by it. Noodles said, "This must be a dream. If it is, don't wake me up". He added that the Montreal/Laval crowd had voices of angels, and cussed like sailors; this was the perfect lead into their song, Bad Habit. 

While it may not be the norm for a piano to be wheeled out onto the stage during a punk show, it all made sense when frontman Dexter Holland sat at the keys and talked about the next song. He said that it was a song about loss, and about losing a loved one. He added that he wrote it about the suffering we go through, and about how we need to focus on the healing. Their song Gone Away was up next. 

As soon as the famous line, "Gunter glieben glauten globen" was heard, the crowd erupted singing along to their huge hit, Pretty Fly for a White Guy. During their entire set, crowd surfers were keeping security busy hoisting them over the rail, only to find them return a few minutes later. They closed out their main set wth The Kids Aren't Alright.

Returning to the stage, the band was once again met with the Ole Ole chant which was even louder than before. You're Gonna Go Far, Kid was next followed by the song most of us were waiting for, Self Esteem.

When all was said and done, I'm sure that I wasn't the only one who was brought back to their school days. The only difference between then and now, is that most of us have to be at work today. Fun fun. 

For more info on Sum 41, visit their Official Site, and the same goes for The Offspring. Don't forget, for all of your concert needs, visit our friends at Evenko