Sum 41/Reach the Sky

live in Boston (2002)

Pat

Today and for the rest of my life I can say something I never ever thought I would say… On Friday November 8, 2002 I saw Reach the Sky open for Sum 41 at Bill's Bar.

So yea, I guess everyone here knows that I like Sum41. Dont regret it at all to tell you the truth. Guilty pleasure I guess. But when I heard they were going on a club tour I knew I had to see them. So I grabbed up a couple friends and the BostonMusicGal (who was home for the weekend) and drove down to Sullivan Square and took the T to Kenmore.

I assumed, Sum 41 playing in Bill's Bar, capacity around 200 (at the most), couldn't be an opening band, especially since the tickets were only $10. Boy was I in for a surprise. I walked in and saw a Reach the Sky tour merch table set up… and got a little excited… asked if Reach the Sky was playing…. got, possibly, a little too excited. Now, mind you, I am a Reach the Sky fan, not a huge fan… have one album, So Far from Home, and I really enjoy listening to it every now and then. I assumed from the beginning that there would be a lack of people that had actually heard of Reach the Sky, nevermind enjoy them. So as I took my place along the side and saw the weakness of this crowd, the motionless Sum 41 fans just going through the motions so that they could get to their real reason for being here I knew I had to spice things up a bit. So during their incredibly energietic set, to a rather un-energetic crowd, they really took me up a notch. Getting the crowd involved as much as they could, incessantly telling people that its ok to jump around, its ok to jump on stage, and that its ok to have fun at a punk show, they got the few fans that they had there going in a way that made the show that much better. Overall the Reach the Sky set was amazing and I definitely want to see them again.

So, Sum 41 huh, the band you guys love to hate, and me the reviewer that brought out all the hate that they have recieved. Well here we go again. Like I said, I like Sum 41… you guys don't. This is the way it will always be. I checked them out at Warped tour 2001, and they were a lot of fun. Thats all they are meant to be… fun. So with that in mind… They opened with their newest, very different, song "Still Waiting", Which is a pleasant surprise for me. I really enjoy the song, its a different direction that Sum 41 is exploring and I think it works really well. Running through some songs from their first release, Half Hour of Power, such as "Makes no Difference", and "Machine Gun", and of course a lot of songs from their hated All Killer No Filler, "Nothing on my Back", "Never Wake Up", "In Too Deep" (gag me), "All She's Got" and many others. They also surprised us with some new songs, none of which I caught the names of, but I have to say that if you are expecting the same Sum 41 on this new album, you will be very surprised. Of course the crowd was very into Sum 41, singing along, jumping up and down, even doing a bit of the mosh pitting (why?) on some of the songs. They, of course, closed with Fat Lip and left the stage for about 2 seconds. Deryck decided that was useless and they would forget about the whole going off stage for a couple minutes and not surprising anyone by coming back out to play 3 more songs. So they just changed up guitars, and bass, and stormed back with "T.H.T", my favorite Sum 41 song. and closed with 2 rousing renditions of "Pain For Pleasure", I guess one wasn't good enough for them.

The night was good, Sum 41 didn't upset me, and Reach the Sky was a pleasant surprise… now if you'll excuse me I'm off to review something that might tickle your fancy a bit more than Sum 41.