I’ve seen Pennywise a couple times in the past in my friend Aaron’s honor, who passed away, because they were his favorite band. When invited to catch them May 28th the Fox Theatre in Pomona, I gladly obliged. They are currently headlining The Jagermeister Music Tour with Pepper, Authority Zero, and Big B supporting.
Veterans of the Punk scene and known for representing the South Bay, CA sound, It was clear that the majority of concert goers were there for Pennywise. This was apparent by the number of Pennywise T-shirts and other merch worn by people who’ve obviously been following them since the beginning, new found teenage fans, and a little tweener I saw proudly sporting one that’d been previously autographed elsewhere.
Ten minutes into their set and already three songs in, they had a short stint of technical difficulties. Bassist Randy Bradbury had to have his mic changed. Singer Jim Lindberg told the crowd “Just because we’ve been touring for 20 years plus doesn’t mean we’re beyond having difficulties.” He blamed it on their crew for their habits of smoking copious amounts of weed and drinking in excess on a daily basis. As they got into their fourth song, “My Own Country” their big hit off their 9th and most recent release, Reason to Believe on MySpace Records, the pit and the audience got hyped up and aggressive.
Since the Fox Theatre is smart enough to have huge screens and PAs in their outdoor areas, I took a minute to escape the packed venue and watch from outside. Jim dedicated the next song “My Own Way” to fans that live their own way of life, and follow their hearts and dreams. I couldn’t help but find it funny that just as he finished his dedication, a Pennywise shirt wearer on the patio started projectile vomiting everywhere but the trash cans surrounding him. This caused a couple passers by to slip around on the tile and the puker to fall in it. It wouldn’t have been a punk show without puke though, right?
The band went on to play seven more songs including “Fight Till You Die,” “Same Old,” and the underground anthem, “F*** Authority” which the crowd went nuts to. They finished off their just over an hour long set with a dedication to anyone that’s lost a family member with “Bro Hymn.” The majority of the audience sang all of the words and the band let a few fans in front on stage to help sing the chorus.
Pennywise is still hard hitting and pumping up their fans as ever. The energy and turn out of the people was full force for a Thursday in Pomona.
