During their recent Australian tour, U.S. punk legends Pennywise turned the Fortitude Music Hall upside down with their signature brand of high-energy, uber-political skate punk. As if this wasn’t enough of a drawcard, punk rock icons Circle Jerks occupied the support slot during the tour, as well as Melbourne-based Civic coming along for the ride.
Civic, the semi-local supports took the crowd by surprise with their super-tight original set. The fast-paced catchy melodies combined with hard-hitting vocals culminate in a sound that sits somewhere between Nofx and Black Flag; not a bad introduction to the night.
Circle Jerks were welcomed with enthusiasm during what was their first time in Australia, and they brought the goods. Sure, vocalist Keith Morris went off on the occasional rant that strangely resembled Abe Simpson shaking his fist at a cloud, but anything can happen at a punk show. Jokes aside, the only disappointment was the fact that we had to wait until 2022 to get to witness the sheer awesomeness that is Circle Jerks.
Pennywise took to the stage to close out the show with a stellar setlist spanning their entire back catalogue. Tight doesn’t even begin to describe the dynamic with which these guys play together – the sound was better than ever, in this writer’s opinion at least, and the reception from the crowd was spectacular.
Security and venue staff shared the same frantic expressions when they realised kids that couldn’t have been older than 10 started crowdsurfing. It didn’t take them long to realise though, that a crowd at a punk show will generally come together to keep each other out of trouble, and the kids had the time of their lives with Lindberg noticeably keeping watch over them, just in case.
As tradition goes, Pennywise close out their shows with a track called Bro Hymn; a tribute to those gone too soon, and testament to their ongoing commitment to empowering others to just keep fighting when life knocks you down. This tradition also encourages everyone in attendance to storm the stage and sing together, however things went a little differently this time. Two kids, at a guess maybe 10 and 7 years old, were pulled on stage to accompany the band during their closing tune, with guitarist Fletcher Dragge giving the eldest a quick guitar lesson before plugging in and letting him play along with the band.
During the set, Lindberg eluded to the idea they might be returning in 2023 to play another round of shows, possibly for the 30th anniversary of the album Unknown Road, or maybe just because they love it here. The motivation doesn’t matter, just as long as they come with the same level of intensity they always manifest on their tours. There really is nothing else quite like the experience of being at a Pennywise show.