Sum 41 Get Their Windy City Farewell at Concord Music Hall

As someone whose college years spanned 2001-2005, I have been absolutely feasting over the last few years when it comes to tours. With my generation finally breaking into the coveted 40+ demographic, all of the sudden Super Bowl halftime shows and classic rock stations and network television commercials cater to my tastes and my wallet. And as we're smack dab in the middle of the 20 year anniversary of any album released during that period, I can't go a month without one of the bands from my formative years playing one of my favorite albums front to back as they rightfully cash in on a little nostalgia to adoring (and usually sellout) crowds.

But just like everything else in life, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Two decades is a long time, and even bands that were just breaking out at the turn of the century now have quite a lot of tread worn off their wheels, if they're even around at all. As we've seen over the last few weeks with the re-formed Jane's Addiction, literally 'getting the band back together' isn't always the best idea. Which yet again brings up the age old question: is it better to burn out than to fade away?"

Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 has a third option in mind, the always respected yet easier-said-than-done 'going out on your own terms'. He and the rest of Sum 41 somewhat shocked the music world and their fans by announcing late last year that 2024's new album Heaven x Hell (read my review off the double album here) would be the band's last and the accompanying tour would be the band's farewell. The next show they played in each city across their 2024 world tour would be their last.

Except for Chicago. Because Chicago is the greatest city in the world. Not only do we get Sum 41 playing at Riot Fest, but the boys decided to do an intimate club show at Chicago's Concord Music Hall 2 nights before their Friday festival set as a special bonus. That's right, the Second City gets the second show. Sorry, everywhere else on Earth.

Any time a band like Sum 41 comes to town, it's a big deal in and of itself. Playing their last headlining show ever in the Windy City? In a venue that fits less than 1,500 people? And they have Drug Church and Many Eyes along for the ride? What, are they giving out free money at the door too?

(Disappointingly, they were not. But the rest is all real.)

When you have a band that includes Keith Buckley, you know shit's going to be loud and brutal. The metalcore mainstay of Every Time I Die and The Damned Things is back with his newest band Many Eyes and fans of his previous work don't have to worry - this new band will annihilate your eardrums just as much as you might anticipate. Hearing Buckley's voice again no matter what the project is always welcome, and Many Eyes definitely left a massive, heavy imprint on a crowd that showed up already expecting to get flattened.

DRUG CHURCH. DRUG CHURCH. DRUG CHURCH DRUG CHURCH DRUG CHURCH. DRUG CHURCH.

Sometimes I just need to get that out of my system. Sometimes I see a band that blows me away. Not impresses me, but blows me away. Leaves me feeling like I need to take a second and collect my thoughts after they leave the stage.

After I collect those thoughts, usually the first thing I do is text about 4-5 different text chains I have for various groups of friends and family. And most of the time, if a band has sufficiently bowled me over, all I can do is simply text that band's name. In all caps. Multiple times. I don't know why and I don't even remember when I started this practice. Something about it just feels appropriate.

With that said, I feel like I've sent about 4,000 DRUG CHURCH texts over the last 24 hours.

One of the things I've learned about myself over the last 2 years as I've taken the dive into concert reviews is is that I really dig hardcore shows. The music is sort of hit or miss with me for the most part, but the shows...the shows are a goddamn blast. And it's cool to see some of those bands break through into the mainstream to deliver their particular musical punch in the face to the masses. Turnstile spent a lot of 2022/2023 doing just that. Militarie Gun seems like they're following that same trajectory. I would not be surprised if Drug Church took a similar path in the near future. Singer Patrick Kindlon is the conduit that the entire band feeds off of, the ringleader of the specific type of onstage insanity that is their live show. Not taking a single second of their set to stand still, Kindlon led the band through an absolutely ferocious set, blurring the line between band and crowd as the masses of bodies poured consistently over the barricade for the duration.

Go see this band. Go listen to this band. Do it as soon as possible. DRUG CHURCH. DRUG CHURCH.

As Deryck Whibley took the stage with the rest of Sum 41, he basically personified all of the different thoughts going through my head seeing the band take the stage as headliners in Chicago for the final time. Upon first glance, Whibley still looks like he did when 'Fat Lip' burst onto the scene - a thin, sneering 21 year old with endless energy and a penchant for lyrics that are essentially either a middle finger or a slap in the face. And that's part of the reason everyone wants to see a band like Sum 41 in 2024. Hearing the songs we loved when we were young and seeing the band bounce around the stage like it's 2001 all over again makes us feel the same way. The fact that Whibley's voice sounds just as good now as it did two decades ago makes it easy to forget that we aren't in the early years of the first George W Bush term.

But as he and the band continue to bounce around the stage, kicking off their set with the 1/2/3 punch of 'Motivation', 'The Hell Song', and 'Over My Head (Better Off Dead)', you could squint and notice that yes, this band hasn't found the secret to immortality and just like the rest of us, they're getting older. Maybe they don't jump quite as high as they used to. Maybe there are some tiny crows feet in the corner of their eyes as they bang their heads. Father Time remains undefeated.

But you don't stick around as a band for multiple decades, selling out arenas and amphitheaters along the way, without honing your skills as a live band. And watching a band used to working crowds of tens of thousands of people put the same energy into a sellout crowd of only 1,500 was a sight to behold. If you closed your eyes, you would think it's 2001 all over again. Aside from Whibley having the voice and energy of a man half his age still, Dave Baksh still absolutely shreds as hard as he ever has on guitar. One of the things that has always separated Sum 41 from their pop-punk contemporaries has always been wearing their heavy metal influences on their sleeve, and Baksh' ability to bring catchy pop sensibilities to riffs that would sound right at home on a Slayer album was on full display all night, especially on songs like 'Still Waiting' or the face melting solo he throws down midway through 'In Too Deep'.

Whibley promised several times during the band's opening songs that the band planned on playing all night, and they did not disappoint, playing a whopping twenty three songs pulled from seven albums. And while the requisite amount of time was paid to their new material, playing five songs off Heaven x Hell including hit singles 'Landmines' and 'Waiting on a Twist of Fate', the band must have known I was going to be in attendance, with almost half their set dedicated to the albums that came out during my college years (All Killer, No Filler/Does This Look Infected/Chuck). In a fun case of a (now) legendary punk band recognizing those that came before them, Whibley pointed out that the guitar he was using onstage was the same guitar Mike Ness used when Social Distortion recorded White Light, White Heat, White Trash. Between the setlist that served as a career retrospective, the intimate size of the venue, and realizing that we were watching actual history be made while using actual historical instruments, the weight and significance of the night was not lost on the sellout Concord Music Hall crowd.

But feeling that weight doesn't mean you're weighed down. Quite the opposite in fact. Despite the fact that most of the crowd was closer to the band's current age than the age they were when 'Fat Lip' first hit the airwaves, everyone packed into Concord tapped into their own youthful energy, bouncing and singing and giving just as much back to the band as they were giving to us with their performance. As the confetti streamed down and giant balloons filled the room throughout the set, culminating with an ear-shattering rendition of 'In Too Deep', you couldn't picture a more perfect send-off for a band that has given us so much amazing music. They never went more than five years between new albums. They've headlined twelve tours. They've played six Warped Tours. They deserve to go out on their own terms, with crowds screaming for more. And if the rest of their nine remaining US shows after they roll out of Chicago are anything like the reception they got at Concord Music Hall, they'll get every bit of the goodbye that they've earned.

Tour of the Setting Sum continues in the US through October.

Sum 41 Setlist - Concord Music Hall 9.18.24

Motivation
The Hell Song
Over My Head (Better Off Dead)
Screaming Bloody Murder
Underclass Hero
Some Say
Landmines
Dopamine
We're All To Blame
No Reason
Walking Disaster
With Me
Makes No Difference
My Direction/No Brains/All Messed Up
Preparasi a salire
Rise Up
Pieces
Fat Lip
Still Waiting
Summer
Waiting on a Twist of Fate
In Too Deep