‘Twas the Kerfuffle before Christmas, the stage was all bare, until The Dirty Nil & Sum41 came to town and left us all in fanfare! The Rapids theatre was happy to host Kerfuffle part deux Friday 12.13.19. The first Christmas celebration event was held at Buffalo Riverworks with other great bands! That is one of the finer points of this Western New York area there is always music to be found all year round along with great acts coming around!
The Dirty Nil was a great opening act to get the crowd ready for Sum41. The trilogy of rockers were thoroughly engaging the whole set, high packed energy that lasted first song to last and they left you wanting more! A setlist that ranged from hits on their highly raved album “Master Volume” such as “That’s What Heaven Feels Like”, “Bathed In Light” and my now personal favorite “Auf Wiedersehen”. Really well thought out lyrics and gritty rock riffs, their sound is catchy and juiced up. Their most brand new single that was released that day “Christmas At My House” is a fun new holiday song with catchy lyrics and a fun musical sound along with it. At times the guitar strums were heavy and fast, frontman Luke Bentham really gave a hell of a performance both vocally and engrossing. Bassist Ross Miller was all over the place the whole time and drummer Kyle Fisher just smashes it all night, especially in their alternative rock hit “Evil Side” a very nice heavy sound near end of the song that both string and drums are brilliant. At the end of the set, I caught the guys interacting with the security guard outside in very friendly, down to earth fashion so that was admirable to see. The Canadian trio was a great show and energizer for the next Canadian gents that were to come up next.
Sum41 has been gracing our ears with both high energy rock songs and the occasional soft ballad since 2001 with their album release of “All Killer No Filler”. There was a huge mix of fans and age groups in that building for them. Lots of young folks with parents, older folks with the esteem that suggested they have been a fan since day one. Rapids Theatre was a superb, intimate experience to be able to experience Sum41 live in person. They came out heavy, high powered and with a great mix through out the night of new and old hits such as “Still Waiting”, “In Too Deep” and “Turning Away”. A enthusiastic, rocking rendition of “We Will Rock You” by Queen was performed along with a remaining set list of hits.
The night continued with heavy hitting music, lively crowd bantering with balloons and a huge inflatable devil that made an appearance the last half of show. Confetti and smoke streams to help the effect but Sum41 really does put on a hell of a show even without the theatrics! Front man Deryck sounded great vocally and held the same sound and some notes very strongly. He was warmhearted with the crowd especially with a sincere thank you for the support over the years. Ending things with what they referred to was the Canadian Anthem “Fat Lip” was the encore and closer for night. Or so which we thought! As house lights came on and people were filing out, Sum41 reappeared back on stage an rocked out to “Pain For Pleasure” with hair wigs and all!! Their were still patrons who enjoyed but unfortunately a lot of people had exited the building. Keep that point in mind if you ever see Sum41 even if house lights come on and it looks like things are over, hang around for a few until your really being ushered out because otherwise you could miss that experience!
Photos & Review: Jessica Gresham.
