Descendents – Gig Review 15th October @ The Metro, Sydney NSW
DESCENDENTS
The Metro, Sydney NSW
October 15th, 2023
Supports: Tantichrist and Nursery Crimes
The Descendents are one of those bands that have been around for ages, and I’ve been into them for years, but have never gotten around to catching them live. After a health scare only a month or two ago, it was great to see frontman Milo Aukerman make a good recovery just in time for their first Australian tour since 2017, and I got to catch their Sydney show a few nights ago.
After a dose of KFC (the Korean version) from nearby Chinatown, I wandered into the Metro and set up camp near the bar to catch the first support Tantichrist, a Sydney outfit playing some good ol’ Aussie punk. They were a great intro to those who got in early, and seemed to have a dark kind of humour with song titles that get right to the point, like ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ and ‘Fuck or Fight.’
Next up was Melbourne hardcore legends Nursery Crimes, a band from the nineties scene who recently reunited to play some shows with The Hard-ons and extended that reunion to the Sydney and Melbourne shows for the Descendents run. Older punks in the crowd seemed to appreciate the band’s classic nineties pub vibe, but I think those younger were keener for the main act. Although their punk cover of the Beatles classic ‘Eleanor Rigby’ was a cool highlight of their set, and reading up on their history afterwards I can appreciate their contribution to the Australian punk world.
After a set changeover and some anticipation, it was time for the main event. The Descendents took to the stage with their 90’s classic ‘Everything Sux,’ and what followed was over 60 minutes of classic anthems from the godfathers of pop-punk, from their seminal album Milo Goes to College through to their recent release 9th & Walnut. Each tune was short and sweet, some shorter than others, like ‘Coffee Mug’ and ‘I Like Food.’
You wouldn’t even believe Milo had been through a health scare recently, belting through classics such as ‘I Wanna Be A Bear,’ ‘Merican’ and ‘When I Get Old’ as if he was still in his twenties or thirties without breaking a sweat, backed with the classic guitar sound from Stephen Egerton and expert bass lines from Karl Alvarez.
Of course, this was all held together by drummer and punk rock legend Bill Stevenson, who ventured out from behind the kit a few times to say hi to the fans and give his best friend Milo a hug (Aww).
The whole set was a great dose of punk rock that had me nodding along, and after a brief break the band returned for an encore with a few more tunes, ending with ‘Get the Time’ and with that, The Descendents called it a night and sent a happy punk crowd out into the Sydney evening.
Review by Simon Valentine @SimonValentine1
