As the Descendents took to Festival Hall on Saturday night, the choice of venue strangely reflected the legendary punks.
Beaten, battered and not much to look at but like an old friend, every visit promises a helping of nostalgic memories of days gone by.
Year after year the institution holds strong, and while there are certainly trendier locales than this daggy shed, there’s something charming about the atmosphere of the creaky old building.
The older than usual crowd were casual and relaxed, and spent most of Bodyjar and Bouncing Souls’ sets swilling beers in anticipation for the main act.
Homegrown heroes Frenzal Rhomb were forced to pull the plug at the last minute due to hospitalisation of an undisclosed member, and the lack of their presence left a noticeable hole in the night’s celebration of the punks of yesteryear; yet their absence could never overshadow the arrival of the immensely influential Californian melodic hardcore pioneers.
The lack of ego was immediately apparent as four dorky old men took the stage in an understated walk on.
On face value, they probably would have fit in just as well at your local RSL. Yet as Milo Aukerman took the mic, casually greeted the crowd in his Ned Kelly headgear and announced the title of opener ‘Everything Sux’, the perfect unity of angst and melody that garnered the band such a devoted and cult-like following was as sharp and biting as ever.
Punching through a collection of short blasts, they had covered the span of their career in the first six songs.
Perhaps the most impressive feat the Descendents have pulled off over the years is to keep churning out high quality records, and as 2004’s ‘Rotting Out’ sat wedged between classic 80s Descendents tunes such as ‘Hope’ and ‘Silly Girl’ the legacy of the pop-punk architects held strong.
The breadth of their style was on full show as the robot rock riffage of ‘Van’ bore their new wave influences and kept things fresh between the bursts of energy.
Yet, that’s not to discredit their more traditional affair. After some scattered dancing and sing-alongs, it was ‘Suburban Home’ that finally sent the unusually quiet punk crowd into a frenzy.
A pit opened up and crowd surfers sprouted up throughout the venue as everyone sang along to Milo’s yearning for a “home just like mom and dad” – which in his age he has finally achieved.
The fact that he is still singing songs such as ‘Suburban Home’ and ‘I Don’t Want To Grow Up’ in the downtime from his other job and passion – biology – lends an honest and endearing charm to the band. They are completely unconcerned and in fact proud of just being four middle-aged dudes.
‘All-O-Gistics’ however, demonstrated the eccentric flair that has made them something more than just your average Joes.
As Milo preached the commandments of the band’s philosophy of ‘ALL’, the crowd cheered and giggled in agreeance to rules such as “thou shalt not commit hygiene;” “thou shalt not partake of decaf,” and “thou shalt not take the van’s name in vein.”
Despite the welcome overview of the band’s entire career, it was the hits from genre-defining debut Milo Goes To College that the audience were most excited about, and luckily the set leaned heavier on this magnum opus than other records.
Tunes such as ‘Myage’ riled up the fairly tame audience and ‘Bikeage’ was one of the most devoted sing-alongs of the night, with surprise guest vocal spot from Evan Dando of the Lemonheads.
Returning for a substantial encore of ‘Sour Grapes’, ‘Kabuki Girl’, and an interpretation of the Doors’ classic ‘Break On Through’ leading into ‘Catalina’, the band were clearly enjoying themselves as they joked around amongst themselves and cracking seemingly genuine smiles.
While many legacy acts – particularly in punk rock – wane as they attempt to ignore their age, the Descendents have embraced the not so graceful process.
Staying true to their legacy and completely on top of their game despite their vintage, the Descendents’ performance was a celebration, not only of the band’s enduring legacy, but of youth and a refusal to grow up.
