Pennywise, Astoria, London
On arriving at the Astoria my first step inside the heaving venue was like stepping into a giant sauna; it really was unbearably hot even though it was getting fairly late. I wasn’t brave enough to take on the sweltering heat combined with London’s tube system to get to the Astoria in time for the openers FIREAPPLE RED (to my regret) and WATERDOWN.
However I did arrive in time to check out the highly acclaimed STRETCH ARMSTRONG for the first time. I had a vague idea of what to expect from this lot but no more than that, so with my ears standing to attention I stood downstairs and opened myself up to impression. SA clearly know how to get a crowd pumped as a reasonably large part of the venue lapped up their aggressive hardcore punk stylings but for me, in places, they came across as a weaker H20 before they became poppy. SA have a definite metallic edge and based on tonight’s performance this is where they seem to be most comfortable, whether this was newer material or not I can’t say but it did go down better with me. This band have a lot of energy live, they quite easily held the crowd’s attention and appeared to have a fair few fans in the venue but I just couldn’t find myself getting excited even though they had classic elements of a good live band. (5)
I’ve been itching to see PENNYWISE in a proper venue for a while now since my first encounter with them in a live setting was only at Reading Festival a couple of years ago. This band have come under a lot of stick in recent years for not showing much in the way of progression from their earlier material but when you’re one of the pioneers of the So. Cal. skate-punk scene does this even really matter? Evidently not as PENNYWISE live are like PENNYWISE on disc; fast, abrasive, mildly political and the general textbook definition of skate-punk and just for tonight in a sixty minute slot it felt like we were back in 1997. As the band took to the stage and opened with ‘Fight until you Die’ the venue almost erupted with both energy from the band and crowd at a cataclysmic level proving just how vital and influential this band are.
Perhaps it was the heat or the Astoria’s notoriously awful sound, but PENNYWISE weren’t as tight as I would have imagined. Don’t get me wrong, there were no major mistakes at all and sloppy would be far too a harsh word, but their sound just didn’t seem as finely tuned as expected. We were also treated to the mandatory ‘fuck-Bush’ rhetoric which became annoying shortly after they elected him for the first time; the prospect of having another four years of this is quite disturbing; surely there must be something else to talk about between songs? With these quibbles aside it was an undeniably solid set, of course a few songs were missed out but when you have a back catalogue that big it’s expected. ‘Society’ was still present however, as was the predictable set-closer ‘Bro-Hym’, which with its ‘whoas’, was an epic way to end the night. This wasn’t a life-changing set and by other reports PW were definitely not at their best tonight, I’m inclined to agree. It was however a strong and entertaining set. (7.5)
-Mike
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