When it comes to punk rock, two of the most iconic names are America’s The Offspring and Canada’s Sum 41. Both bands are currently in Australia for a completely sold out tour that has been two years in the making. Tonight, it’s Wollongong’s turn to experience the party as the bands play WIN Entertainment Centre.
Thousands of fans poured into the venue as Sum 41 literally lit up the stage as huge balls of fire shot into the air. Appropriately starting with ‘Motivation’, what followed was an all killer no filler setlist of Sum 41 pop punk anthems. Vocalist Deryck Whibley had the crowd in the palm of his hand the entire set with his boundless energy, while the shredding skills of lead guitarist Dave Baksh were something to behold.
The older crowd favourites had the audience jumping and singing the most like ‘In Too Deep’, ‘Makes No Difference’ and their undisputed signature ‘Fat Lip’. Deryck showed off his own guitar skills playing classic riffs from ‘Smoke on the Water’ and ‘Seven Nation Army’. The whole band followed by taking on a punked up version of Queen‘s ‘We Will Rock You’. They finished with ‘Still Waiting’, a song that they wrote in their youth that still resonates today.
Sum 41’s mind-blowing set was worth the price of admission alone but there was more to come. During the break between bands an Offspring blimp was hovering above us as merch was slingshot into the crowd by a the stage crew (one of them adorning a gorilla suit). Then began a countdown from the stage signalling the show was about to begin.
The Offspring burst onto the stage wasting no time playing one of their biggest hits first up ‘Come Out And Play’. From then on the smash hits just kept rolling, it was like someone programmed a jukebox to play The Offspring’s greatest hits and everyone was ok with that. The stage production was on another level with every song having unique graphics displayed behind the band. ‘Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)’ even had wacky waving inflatable tube cool guys on stage throughout the song. During ‘Bad Habit’ the band paused to thank the ‘Gong crowd and were genuinely amazed by how rowdy they were with Noodles stating “this crowd did not come to fuck spiders”.
Dexter slowed things down a little as he sat behind the piano for a beautiful rendition of ‘Gone Away’ as a sea of phones lit up the arena in solidarity. The mood quickly picked back up as beach balls were tossed into the crowd for ‘Why Don’t You Get A Job’. The main set closed with a personal favourite ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’ transporting me right back to 1998’s The Faculty movie soundtrack.
It wasn’t long before The Offspring reemerged onstage starting out the encore with ‘Lullaby’ taken from their latest album Let The Bad Times Roll and ‘You’re Gonna Go Far Kid’, before ending with ‘Self Esteem’. That was the perfect singalong for anyone who’s ever been in a toxic relationship. Starting the set with a huge hit from their album Smash and ending with another was the perfect bookend to the night.
Tonight in Wollongong was the punk rock party of the year. With what can only be described as a double headliner of America and Canada’s finest. To say this tour was worth the wait is an understatement. The musicianship and stage production from both bands made this a show Gong fans will bang on about for years to come.
(Photos by Christian Ross)
