SUM 41 and the punk pop show at Amager Bio, Denmark

Coverage by Joe Miller

Eat, drink, party, sleep. Eat, drink, party, sleep. Repeat.

I’m back in university and the day to day pattern is in full swing. Dorm parties, club nights and random party crashing were the norm for most nights of the week. A swollen head in the morning and a quick fry up breakfast before heading to lectures and preparing for the night again.

One band whose music was the soundtrack to my life at this time was Sum 41 and although they weren’t a constant on my radio in the house, you couldn’t find yourself at a party without the sound of ‘In Too Deep’ blaring out of the stereo or the odd broken chair or coffee table from someone partying too hard to ‘Fat Lip’. “Call the police!”

Sum 41 joined a host of bands that dragged me through my uni years including Blink 182, Offspring and Alien Ant farm, but it’s the guys from the aforementioned act that I’m stood in front of today, reminiscing the old days and closing my eyes to remember a time that appeared stress free and with so much promise.

Times now are different. The beach parties have been replaced with dinner parties. Drunken euphoric hugs have been replaced with smug sobering stares and the party is slowly coming to its climax.

But not tonight…

Sum 41 deliver a set list of over 20 songs for the packed out venue and Deryck Whibley and the band have swallowed up the audience and regurgitated them into a frenzy.

Starting out with ‘The Hell Song’ was always going to get the crowd pumped up, but the band are moving around the stage to rouse the crowd and Deryck is clearly enjoying the performance.

The oldies in the crowd are treated to a set containing all the classics (as you would expect) but also a couple of newer editions for the younger fans, including ‘Fake My Own Death’ and ‘War’, which are warmly welcomed by the audience.

Skate punk, pop punk, punk rock… call it what you want. The guys are grabbing all genres of punk music, mixing them in a shaker and letting you chug them down until you spew up on punk rock overload!

I transcend to a place once more filled with hope and prosperity for the future. I realise that I’ll never be rich or achieve the things that most people strive to achieve by my age in life.

But then most people won’t ever get the chance to see live music most nights of the week, standing inches away from the guys that were the soundtrack to your life for so many years. Week in, week out, new gigs, more stories… better stories!

Sum 41 gave me and the crowd a story to tell the next generation of party goers and people looking to enjoy their lives.

The set closed with an acoustic version of ‘Handle This’ and everyone joined in for the drunken hug swaying encore to sing out the night to. A fine performance from the ageing band, but the memories these guys have created over the years will live long in the memory for most and it was a pleasure to have them back in Denmark.

Eat, drink, party, sleep. Eat, drink, party, sleep. Think I’ll take a few days off.

Zebrahead have been a constant buddy of the band (Sum 41) and it was no surprise to see them hanging around again as the opening act of the night.

They’ve been rockin’ the suburbs since 1995 and were a part of the punk pop scene that carried us through life on a skateboard through shopping malls (although I never skated in America, so it would have been Lidl car park).

The guys give a good account of themselves although lead singer, Ali Tabatabaee, seems more interested in throwing his cap in the air and catching it on his head at times than giving the audience value for their buck.

It’s an interesting set that involved a mid-set, beer chugging moment from a couple of guys in furry green outfits.

Yeah, random. But I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the gig.

Now, let’s all get back to staring at the guitarist in the bands’ awesome mustache!