Similar to headliners Pennywise, fellow Los Angeles support act The Bronx have over the years found success equal to, if not greater than, their home. Since their 2003 debut album, Australia has welcomed the band with almost yearly tours and constant sold out shows. The band wasted no energy, spanning tracks from their five album career, with the energy of live mainstays ‘False Alarm’ and ‘Shitty Future’surpassing any preconceived expectations of a support act. Renowned frontman Matt Caughthran spent half the set in the crowd, with his throat-shredding screams demanding the same energy in return from the rapidly filling venue.
Performing their critically acclaimed fan favourite album Full Circle on its 20th anniversary, headliners Pennywise wasted no time jumping straight into their set. With their trademark speed and focus, the band’s sound remained as fresh as it was soundtracking Warped Tours and skate videos 20 years ago. Full of fan favourites, early set highlight and band trademark anthem ‘Society’filled the venue with the soaring voice of the crowd. Carried by charismatic and attention-grabbing frontman Jim Lindberg, the anthemic and direct lyrics of the band’s songs rang with the same amount of power and energy as ever before. With the performance of Full Circle completed in an economical half an hour, the band went straight into a jam session of covers, spanning the band’s hometown influences of Circle Jerks and Black Flag to a tribute to Australia with a cover of Men At Work’s ‘Land Downunder’. With the show ending with the band’s signature anthem ‘Bro Hymn’, a tribute to their late bass player Jason Thirsk, chaos predictably ensued with a mass stage invasion of the crowd, bringing a raucous and unruly end to a show by icons of the genre.
Highlight: Never played live before cuts from ‘Full Circle’.
Lowlight: The Bronx having to condense their usual set to fit as supports.
Crowd Favourite: Mass stage invasion and chaos during ‘Bro Hymn’.
