A triple bill of pop punk arrived in Corfu, NY this past Sunday night with The Offspring, Sum 41 and Simple Plan, who played an infectious night of rock music. 10,000 strong took in 3 sets by bands who all have a history of over 20 years in the music business.
First up were Simple Plan. The band is supposedly alternating opening slots with Sum 41. For this show, Simple Plan earned the top slot for the night’s festivities. The band hails form Montreal, Quebec and is still on tour in support of their 2022 release ‘Harder Than it Looks.’ Even though they played one tune off the record in “Iconic,” the set was the best performance I’ve seen of any opening act so far in 2023. The bands energy and being able connect with its fans was off the chart. The Band had everyone jumping for the 3rd song of their set in aptly titled “Jump.” Led by the energetic front man Pierre Bouvier, they made the most of the bands 40-minute set.
Next up, was Sum 41. Even though they had a hard act to follow in Simple Plan, I thought the band had a very solid set. As soon as the band took the stage, vocalist Deryck Whibley immediately called for the pit in front of the stage to open up. The band then went into “T.N.T.” The entire band moved about the stage which included Dave Baksh on guitar, Jason McCaslin on bass and Tom Thacker on rhythm guitar. They all moved about as the band plowed through some notable tracks in “Over My Head” “In to Deep” and closing it all out with “Still Waiting.” No bow or casual send off as the lights went out as the band exited the stage. Whibley said bye as the last note was played and that was that.
The headliners from Orange County, California closed the show in The Offspring. This is the first time they played Darien Lake since 1994. A lot has gone by since that time. The band was just in its infancy as they released their first breakthrough single in “Come Out and Play.” This was a huge song for them and the band had a mirage of hits since that time but, they decided to open the set with this track. I thought it was super cool they did that. The bands founders and original members in Dexter Holland (vocals, guitar, piano) and Noodles (guitars) are still the driving force of the band. Todd Morse has been with the band as a touring musician since 2009 but became a permanent fixture on bass in 2019.Brandon Pertzborn just joined the band this year on drums. Even though it’s been 2 years since the band released, ‘Let the Bad Times Roll,’ the band is still on tour in support of it. It was a fun set with a splattering of all their hits. Noodles did a jam of covers while a caricature of himself played on the video behind him. At one point, he challenged himself to a dual. Then the video disappeared, and he remarked, I guess I must play with myself now as he did a cool part of the Savatage classic “Hall of the Mountain King.” Holland was back and forth between guitar and singing a capella all night. I didn’t care for the alternate version of “Gone Away,” which Holland was playing solo with just him and his piano. I prefer the rocking version of the track. This was only my 2nd time seeing the band live and I thought they had a great balance of new and old in their set. It was cool to see the band play a song they never did in “Hassan Chop” off the latest record. Its a cool song and thought it fit well in the set.
A great night for all the punk and rock fans alike. A perfect tripe bill if you’re a fan of this genre or these bands in general. It was a win win for the concert goer!
Setlist:
Come Out and Play
All I Want
Want You Bad
Let the Bad Times Roll
Staring at the Sun
Original Prankster
Hassan Chop
Hammerhead
Bad Habit
Iron Man (Black Sabbath cover)/The Trooper (Iron Maiden cover)/Sweet Child o’ Mine (Guns N’ Roses cover)/In the Hall of the Mountain King (Savatage cover)
Blitzkrieg Bop (Ramones cover)
Gotta Get Away
Gone Away
Why Don’t You Get a Job?
(Can’t Get my Head) Around You
Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)
The Kids Aren’t Alright
Encore:
Your Gonna Go Far, Kid
Self Esteem
We would like to thank Ron Perks from Livenation for the credentials to review the show.
