In celebration of their new record, 13 Voices, Sum 41 has embarked on their playfully-entitled “Don’t Call It a Sum-Back” tour. At New York City’s PlayStation Theater, hordes of devoted fans packed the sold-out venue, arriving early and impatiently waiting through opening acts As It Is and Senses Fail.
Prior to the entrance of Sum 41, a hush fell over the audience; a curtain blocked the view of the stage while Neuen’s “The Requiem” played over the speakers followed by “Introduction to Destruction” and AC/DC’s “T.N.T.” Suddenly the curtain plunged to the floor, and the crowd roared as the band ran out onstage and burst into “The Hell Song.”
Lead singer Deryck Whibley is a natural showman, dominating the stage and leading the band and crowd throughout the night. Every moment was a sing-a-long punctuated by crowd surfing and mosh pits, a reciprocal energy that was passed from band to crowd and crowd to band. Smoke and confetti served as surprises and highlights during a dynamic set that spanned their 15-year career, drawing cheers each and every time.
Closing the show was an encore beginning with “Pieces,” a slower song that Whibley played solo on a keyboard before the rest of the band came back out to join him. Leaving the best for last, Sum 41 ended the show with “Fat Lip,” the single that first catapulted them to fame in 2001. Whibley immediately commanded the crowd to jump, which, really, didn’t need to be said; they were already actively engaged, shaking the floor with each landing and tumbling atop the throngs of people. Blue, purple, yellow, and magenta lights turned the stage to brilliant colors as screams and cheers served as a final goodbye. “Fat Lip” was almost like a party; the show, though disappointingly at its end, went out the way it came in: with a bang.
