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Choir • Members
of Pennywise sing “Bro Hymm” along
with fans during their concert in Catalina
last Thursday.
Matt Logan/Summer Forty-Niner
Pennywise
treats fans on a trip to Catalina Island By
Matt Logan
Summer Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
Pennywise formed back in 1988. Many things have happened to the band and in the
world since those days. However, the insane energy of a Pennywise show remains
untouchable. As punk pioneers and innovators Pennywise rolls on, and with their
new release, “The Fuse” they aren’t showing any signs of slowing.
Pulling away from the dock, the
boat moved slowly through
Rainbow Harbor of Long Beach
towards the open Pacific.
Catalina Island is only 26
miles off the coast
of California but it seemed like an exotic location for a Pennywise CD release
party.
Tracks from Pennywise’s new album, “The Fuse,” and Epitaph’s
summer sampler, “Punk-O-Rama 10,” poured from the pitiful onboard
speakers. The sounds filled in as angry background music as the passengers hung
out, ate lunch and watched two jet skiers that escorted the boat from the mainland
to the shores of Catalina. The jet skiers would launch off the boat’s massive
wake doing tricks in the air or throw huge amounts of spray up at the spectators
watching from what they thought to be a safe distance. The sheets of water created
a makeshift wet T-shirt scene, and may have even put out a few cigarettes.
Upon arriving in Avalon Harbor, the boatload of punks was unleashed upon the
quiet little island. The pierced and tattooed crowd meandered through the streets
of Avalon, eventually passing the Casino, Avalon’s iconic landmark, on
its way to the venue. The stage was set up at the edge of the sand with a sailboat-sprinkled
harbor as a backdrop.
As many people were purchasing drink tickets and consuming beer just up the
hill from the stage, the first opening band took the stage. Another Damn Disappointment
(A.D.D), started hard and fizzled fast. Living up to their ill-chosen name,
the
crowd showed signs of anxiously awaiting the second band.
The second opening act, Death by Stereo, regained the energy and fire of the
crowd. Stereo hit the crowd head-on with their hardcore styling and the moshpit
responded by springing back to life in a ground shaking rage. Efrem Schulz
(lead vocals) kept to the hardcore tradition of singing with emotion and animation.
At the end of their amazing set, Stereo thanked the fans for their support
and
announced Pennywise was next, prompting fans to roar in anticipation.
Pennywise took over the stage playing “Fight ‘Til You Die.” They
followed the trusted recipe of playing some old and some new songs. When the
band played their namesake song, “Pennywise,” the entire venue seemed
to rumble while the pit got bigger and more intense. At one point a punk rocker
in a wheelchair rolled into the pit and got knocked over. Nearly everyone in
the pit stopped to pick him up. Once upright he held his ground, smack in the
middle of a thrashing moshpit.
The new album, “The Fuse,” carries on the Pennywise legacy of anger,
hope and a lyrical punk-hearted fight against corruption of government and society.
The track titled “Competition Song” closes with the lyrics, “We
separate ourselves by the color of our skin/And the country where we’re
born/And which god we believe in/And we compete until we die/We believe these
ancient lies/If we could only change our minds maybe then we’d all survive.”
Through the track “Disconnect,” Pennywise invites today’s modern “plugged-in” society
to slow down the continuing wave of technology and biased media reports, “All
this media saturation … I wanna cut off the umbilical electronic leash … Don’t
wanna hear all the lies/and the lines they’re selling to me/I wanna break
free.”
Fans old and new responded with riotous approval to the new CD.
In the middle of the song “F*** Authority” the band lost power on
stage. Once power was regained they played on. Just as fast as power had been
restored, it went out a second time. The crowd could hear nothing but the drum
beats. That didn’t stop these fans, they continued singing until the song
was over. Lead vocals, Jim Lindberg laughed and cheered the fans on as he sang
along with them.
Finally they played “Bro Hymn,” which almost always marks the completion
of a Pennywise concert. The band invited everyone to get on stage. The stage
was overflowing with fans — even the wheelchair guy was up there — all
singing like one glorious punk choir.
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