Thursday 30/09/04 Sum 41 @ Camden Electric Ballroom, London

Sum 41 are in town for one night only, and the crowd are waving Canadian flags, a giant pair of Y-Fronts, and anything else in arms reach in anticipation.  The house lights dim, AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ bellows from the house PA, and the throng of hormonally overactive teens clamour for a better view of their punk-pop idols.

Bursting into an opening trio of breakneck punk tunes Sum 41 have the kind of cock-sure arrogance that can only be gained by several years’ worth of touring.  Singer Deryck Whibley’s act has become more tuned and aggressive than his Billie-Joe-lite impressions of the past.  Joking of his new ‘cheeseball’ addiction (cocaine and cheese apparently), he invites us all to “Grab the devil by the horns and **** him up the ass”.   Obviously his newly found political conscience hasn’t destroyed the fart-joke sense of humour that inspired the following rap-punk crossover hit ‘Fat Lip’.

Like them or not, you can’t deny that Sum 41 can play; guitarist Dave ‘Brownsound’ Baksh shows off his chops by introducing new single ‘We’re All To Blame’ with a note-for-note rendition of Van Halen’s ‘Hot For Teacher’.  ‘Nothing On My Back’ has mutated into something much darker and segues into the closing riff from Rage Against The Machine’s moshpit anthem ‘Bullet In The Head’.  The new slower numbers are met with a lukewarm reception from a crowd more interested in knocking heads, but the rather obvious Metallica style metal of ‘Bitter End’ gets a more enthusiastic response.

Holding the stage with ease, Sum 41 are best with tongue planted firmly in cheek and showing off their best rock poses.  However the new material and an indifferent version of comedy number ‘Pain For Pleasure’ do hint at a desire to be taken more seriously.  Victims of their own MTV marketing-driven success perhaps, but you get what you wish for.  And they know it’s the hits that the kids risked sneaking out on a school night to hear.