If you felt a sense of nostalgia this week, you must have attended the Offspring with Sum 41 in the Maritimes, whether it be in Halifax or Moncton.
If you were born in the 80s, or even the 90s, this show brought you back to junior high school days, regardless of which band you wanted to see most. The fans of a great age range came in droves.
Atlantic Canada Rocks had the pleasure of attending the first of the two shows, at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax Tuesday night.
Just as 7pm rolled around, concert lovers prepared as the UK’s own Dinosaur Pile Up introduced themselves to the Halifax crowd, featuring a short set of songs from their decade long career including “11:11”, “Thrash Metal Cassette” and more.
By the time Dinosaur Pile Up left the stage, the arena began to fill even more as Canadian favourites Sum 41 took the stage to huge excitement from the floor and bowl alike, with many “moshing” as the band went through a set featuring songs from their entire catalog, whether it be from their new record “Order in Decline” or their biggest hits from the early 2000s.
As lead vocalist Deryck Whibley made his way to the B- stage, the real singalongs begin as the open chords of “Pieces” echo the arena and lighters and flashlights can be seen through the entire facility. The sing along continued for the rest of the set as the group played their smash hit “In Too Deep” and “Fat Lip” to end the set. Its easy to say Halifax loves Sum 41 and will have them back anytime.
Shortly after 9pm, the Offspring hit the stage as the final act of the night. The group was very excited to return to Halifax after a ten year absence, following their appearance at Virgin Fest 2009 on Citadel Hill, with lead Vocalist Dexter Holland declaring Halifax “looks good” and would have an even better night than ten years ago.
The California group went through all their hits including “Pretty Fly for a White Guy”, “The Kids Aren’t Alright”, “You’re Gonna Go Far Kid” and many more.
The Offspring didn’t stop there, playing a cover of the AC/DC classic “Whole Lott’s Rosie” and keeping the crowd engaged with a birthday dedication to a fan in the front row early in the set.
The best way to “Sum” up the entire night, is that it was an evening of great modern rock in Halifax that has fans of all ages having a great night at a rock show with acts from all different parts of the globe.
Until next time, hopefully the Maritimes see all of these fine acts in less than ten years!