Reviewed on Saturday September 26 (photo by Ashley Mar)
Walking into the Roundhouse for this 18-plus show felt like a being welcomed into a loud, rowdy and warm family reunion. Friends and strangers were greeted with hugs, high-fives and handshakes. There were old-school punks with multi-coloured mohawks, long-haired leather-clad rockers, dreadlocked dudes, and lots of tartan, tattoos and skate shoes.
Seasoned gig-goers mingled with barely legal first-years as Newcastle’s Local Resident Failure took to the stage. It seemed they were out to prove something as they powered through their short, fast, loud yet blistering set. Hats off to them.
Now the stage was set for Anti-Flag. After lead vocalist Justin Sane announced they’d come all the way from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to be here, they launched into track after track from their latest album American Spring. Their politically minded message of combining free thinking and social responsibility to effect positive change was ever-present, and their lyrics filled with anti-war and anti-capitalist sentiment struck a chord with the crowd. For their last song, the three guitarists formed a row at the front of the stage and rocked out in precision, as drummer Pat Thetic hurled himself and his drum kit into the eager crowd and was carried on shoulders till the show was over. Kudos to the mosh pit for keeping it classy.
Pennywise drummer Byron McMackin could be seen quietly psyching himself up side of stage as the crew worked its magic in record time. Out of nowhere, their returned original frontman Jim Lindberg burst onto the stage, followed by lead guitarist Fletcher Dragge and bassist Randy Bradbury, all to the roar of applause – the band was back together.
As promised, the four-piece played 1995’s About Time in its entirety to honour the passing of much-loved bass player Jason Thirsk. The crowd sung each lyric word for word, the emotion clear on people’s faces. The set then moved to iconic anthems ‘Fuck Authority’, ‘Alien’ and ‘Living For Today’, but the certain highlight of the night was the finale, when Pennywise were joined onstage by Justin Thirsk (Jason’s little brother) for ‘Bro Hymn’. The walls shook as the crowd delivered its tribute in unison – “Jason Matthew Thirsk / This one’s for you,” and the perennial punks of Pennywise played it to perfection.
