Punk legends, Descendents, and Folk-Rock's finest, Frank Turner, have taken to the road and brought along Canada's punk collective, NOBRO. The tour has been weaving its way around the United States for the past 3 weeks and finally made its way to the West Coast. I was fortunate enough to make it out for their 1 of 2 night stint in Disney's land at the House of Blues in Anaheim.
NOBRO kicked off the night with a boisterous set of ripping garage-punk numbers. Vocalist Kathryn McCaughey hopped back and forth between bass duties and wooing the crowd with a vigorous display of showmanship. Guitarists Josee Caron and Karolane Carbonneau ripped through the numbers' swift chord changes, interspersed with subtle strident licks across the fretboard. By the end, the crowd was wide awake and warmed up. Ready for the rest of the night to unfold.
Frank Turner and his band of sleeping souls took to the stage ready to fill the room with blaring folk-punk and positivity for his 3127th show, kicking off the set with Turner's ode to Rock 'n' Roll, "I Still Believe," followed by his call to action in "Try This at Home." The Sleeping Souls were as tight-knit as ever, with Ben Lloyd swinging his axe around but never missing a note, and bassist Tarrant Anderson striding around keeping the rhythm with gusto.
Turner has a knack for making everyone feel full of life, youthful, and joyful. During his declarative "I Don't Want to Be In Your Gang," he turned a hardcore or metal show's "wall of death" into a "wall of hugs," suggesting that rather than closing the wall with violence, the crowd close the wall with kindness and hug the people on opposite ends. In the middle of a solo-acoustic portion of his set, he ran through his sentimental "Be More Kind" dedicated to Minneapolis before a cover of NOFX's "Bob" which included a surprise appearance by the front man himself, Fat Mike, on harmonica.
By the end of the set, Frank had thrown down his guitar and let himself fly free across the stage and into the crowd for Tape Deck Heart's "Four Simple Words." He spent most of the night repeatedly asking if he was making friends, and there was no doubt he was now everyone's best friend. Be sure to head to Dallas when Frank holds his 9th annual Lost Evenings Fest! The line-up just got announced, and it's killer!
It was time for the legendary punk outfit, Descendents. Before even playing a note, Milo was already firing off jokes about Mickey Mouse before segueing into "Everything Sucks." The crowd erupted when they went into punk earworm, "Hope." Despite the band becoming more and more melodic, they still don't stray away from their short bursts of comedy, throwing in tracks like "I Like Food" and "Weinerschnitzel" combined with "No, ALL!"
Milo repeatedly went out to the barricade to sing with the crowd, including with a "silly girl" for their appropriately titled track from I Don't Want to Grow Up. On another occasion, he grabbed a papier-mache Milo standing on the toilet from Everything Sucks and set it on the stage.
The band continued to play through songs spanning their entire discography, including "Coolidge" and "I'm the One" from their earlier years, to newer tracks like "On Paper" from Hypercaffium Spazzinate and "Nightage" from 9th & Walnut. Towards the end, during fan favorite "Bikeage," their tour bus driver stepped in to take over drumming duties, giving Bill Stevenson the opportunity to step up to the mic and catch the bodies flying over the barricade to get to Milo.
When the band came back for their encore, fans were yelling for "one more song," but were gifted with four. They closed out the night with the Enjoy track, "Get the Time." Descendents built a career on having fun and not wanting to grow up and get old. They made it clear that they still have no intention of doing so. Stephen Egerton plays as fast and aggressively as ever. Milo is still meandering around on stage and cracking jokes. Descendents will be joining Social Distortion on a full US tour beginning late August. Don't miss an opportunity to catch these punk veterans. They never disappoint.
