We enter the hustle and bustle of a busy Fairview Park, in-between food and drink vendors and what seems like miles of portaloos; there is a giant marquee which resembles a colourful circus tent in sight. Everyone is matching the weather’s mood with their sunny expressions, the smell of freshly cut grass is in the air. There’s the distinct feeling of suspense, we have high expectations for tonight. It’s Sum 41’s last tour and their final ever Irish date.
Dublin based band “The Scratch” open the show as the support act…of the century. They call us, the audience “cheeky bastards” as they begin their set with intense drumming that we feel in our chests, to warm up our hearts for this farewell tour.
They’re Irish rock at its finest. Daniel has such a powerful voice and his eyes are closed while he’s delivering double time vocals and drumming perfectly at the same time. All members work in complete unison together, while performing traditional Irish music; heavily mixed with growls, screams and power chords. Guitars lead us into synchronised vocals which we belt back consistently.
Their timing is fast paced and urgent and matches the white and green strobe lights which reach the back of tent. They’re making us feel new levels of excitement with their unique sounds.
It’s metal but Irish music and all at once. They mix guitar riffs with traditional sounds of pipes and fiddles which are played on a high-pitched electric guitar. Paddy’s day has come early.
The bands expressions are that of complete concentration and determination, this makes us brace ourselves for what’s next. They express pure, raw joy while emitting so much chaotic energy. We love rocking out to authentic Irish sounds- there’s something so special about their stage presence and the bond they have with the audience. They deliver music you can mosh and also Irish dance to and it’s legendary. Circle pits form to the sound of traditional Irish ballads, it’s versatile and original. People’s jumpers are coming off and flying through the air without a second thought. The tent is sweaty already. The crowd have their adoring hands in the air silhouetted eccentrically in the now manically paced strobe lights. A lot of their lyrics are lost in the madness, we don’t care. Unpredictable, unhinged greatness, it’s intense and strangely familiar.
Old Irish songs are greatly revamped and never sounded so good. Guitars and bass are paired with powerful Viking like percussion and harmonious melodies sung together like a Siren’s song.
Daniel gets up from his drum kit and instigates a wall of death by moving his arms side to side, all it takes is one look from him and the crowd parts. He dusts himself off like job done and before the intro into the next song has even fully begun- Crash…bodies are slamming in to each other and everyone is having the most fun of the whole night.
They’re the best received support act I’ve ever seen. A sense of home has been evoked in our souls. They make us proud to be Irish.
The Scratch photos & set-list:
Set-list:
Cheeky Bastard
Blaggard
Excuse
Sally MacLennane (The Pogues cover)
Hole in the Ground
Another Round
Sum 41’s set starts off as it means to go on, with the most energy we’ve ever known emitted from a farewell tour. Flames explode upwards to the ceiling of the tent, smoke machines with massive force almost hit the roof and the sound from them is intense and pressurised, perfectly timed to the sound of drumbeats, it is loud. Those of us not ready to say farewell are shocked into our existence.
There’s a yellow logo of “SUM 41” on a huge back drop. An Animatronic of a grey skeleton with red glowing eyes has its middle finger in the air.
Derek-the lead singer asks the crowd to go crazy, we deliver.
There’s big energy on a big stage from an even bigger band. They play the perfect mix of old and new tunes. Derek shows off his multitude of musical talents and alternates between focusing solely on vocals, to playing guitars handed to him swiftly by crew members while maintaining the pace of the songs perfectly. Electrifying guitar solos from Dave are taken in by us, in awe.
“The Hell song” was paired with bursts of confetti and flames at the same time. The crowds’ voices echo through the marquee sounding like we’re in a wind tunnel.
We alternate between moshing, ska dancing, jumping and screaming- there’s rarely a moment where we’re stagnant- only when Derek speaks- we cling on to his every word, hoping he will unannounce the bands ending.
Derek’s hands are in the air for his next instruction, he is seeing which side of the crowd’s louder- everyone obeys and we try to outdo each other. We are the orchestra; he is the conductor. Conducting the goodbye to our youth.
The band feeds off the crowd’s energy and we do the same, so much is happening on stage at once and it puts us in a state of shock and dissociation, but every time the pressurised smoke machines mix with the loudness of the music, we’re back and present. So many moments of clarity are shared amongst us, mixed with such disbelief.
String confetti to final choruses of well-known songs comes flying from the stage at an alarming rate, hitting people by surprise. Powerful chords are paired with colourful smoke clouds. The crowd gets a solo at one point, this gives us our moment to shine and we now feel utterly united with Sum 41.
The main stage is tiered with a B stage in the middle, the band are alternating well and using all of their performance knowledge. They sound the exact same as when they first started touring, only more polished and somehow more energetic.
What makes them great live is their sheer energy and how they combine it so well with making everything heartfelt. They put so much passion in to the music, it’s emotional and they take it seriously but they still have so much fun. They have a unique way of interacting with the crowd and this makes us feel like we’re actually part of the production.
Giant beach balls are now just near missing, crashing into the band members, when they burst, they’re filled with confetti which does not know what direction to go in and is blown everywhere by the smoke machines. There are huge smiles on all the bands faces when they see our reactions to these details.
The show slowed down at times and they played songs about how we were never meant to grow old. It’s at this point we realise Derek’s voice hasn’t aged, it’s still as powerful and punk as it was from day one, we can hear the angst in voice but also the emotions of a lead singer who is grateful to be here and for all the band has achieved.
The production value is unmatched, they really went extra for this final show. There’s glittering pyro coming down in thin layers for the song “Landmines”, choruses invite more bursts of pyro, covered in smoke, which looks like thunder clouds, all engulfed in vibrant stage lighting.
During “Dopamine” we can’t help but notice someone’s crutches in the sky, proving we wouldn’t miss this show for the world.
“Bring the lights down, make it beautiful, make it dark. We don’t need expensive lights we need you.”, states Derek. Phone torches and lighters are now in the sky, unprompted. Lights sparkle on reflections of the monitor outlining the band in all of their glory, we might cry but, in a minute, we’ll be moshing again.
The band have powerful stances and eccentric movements on the stage. They perform a cover of “We will rock you” and Dave’s guitar solo is wild. They also play the riffs to “seven nation army” Their musical progression is scarily good. They look so happy and achieved while exuding so much talent. Everyone from the front to back of marquee is clapping in unison and jumping as high as we possibly can- stamping on our youth.
They played “Pieces” and it literally left us in pieces. There’s eyeliner down our faces but we don’t care. We’re being rained on by pink confetti- arms outstretched, lucky enough to catch some in our hands.
Derek states he wants a moment of just us together, nothing extra, forget the production, sit with us, we sit and as soon as we get comfortable, we’re instructed to abruptly jump up together, at the exact moment “Still waiting” begins to play and is one of the best received songs of the night.
Their encore consists of their best-known songs, which they saved for last. They play a song “all the way back from 1996/97”, “Summer” this is evoking emotions in all of us diehard fans. We give this encore, one final burst of the energy we have left, drinks are flying through the air, the marquee is shaking.
We feel holes in our souls as they leave the stage but less than two minutes later, just as we begin to regulate, they’re back! They gave us one final good bye song, “So long goodbye” they announce the farewell and give us “a million thanks yous” for “living through all the bullshit to get to this moment and sticking by us and being part of the Sum 41 family”
This show was consistently surprising, with twists and turns is all directions. We really feel they put extra love into this last show. They played as many songs as they possibly could. It was a very special night that we won’t forget for a long time. They made us feel amazing and truly part of this devastating goodby
Sum 41 photos & set-list:
Set-list:
Introduction to Destruction (Tape Intro)
Motivation / 88 outro
The Hell Song
Over My Head – Better Off Dead
No Reason
Underclass Hero
Some Say
Landmines
Dopamine
We’re All to Blame
Walking Disaster
With Me
My Direction / No Brains / All Messed Up
Makes No Difference
Preparasi a salire
Rise Up
Pieces
We Will Rock You (Queen cover)
Smoke on the Water (Deep Purple cover)
Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes cover)
Fat Lip
Still Waiting
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Summer
Waiting on a Twist of Fate
In Too Deep
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So Long Goodbye
Photos Carl Foran – @carlforanphotography
Words by Tanita Hingerty – @tanitasikes