Pennywise

with Bleed The Dream, Mad Caddies and Stretch Armstrong

Boynton Beach, Florida • Jan. 23, 2004

Julio Torres

After three opening acts – Bleed The Dream, Mad Caddies, and Stretch Armstrong – Pennywise took the stage to continue the beginning of their East Coast tour. Tonight’s show was the third of this tour; the band will end up in Minneapolis on February 29. The show was the typical Pennywise offering: plenty of mosh-pits, middle-aged fans, and detest for W. Bush and company. “Could you believe the Terminator is our Govenor,” said frontman Jim before breaking into another crowd-frenzy song.

“We have a surprise for you all, you won’t believe what we have for you, said lead singer Jim at one point. The band then began to play Outkast’s “Hey Ya.” Pennywise did an excellent punk-cover of the song. At two points in the show the band asked the crowd what the wanted to hear; I didn’t mind them interacting with crowd, but I just wanted the band to keep playing, either new stuff or old songs.

When the band played the song “Pennywise” the mosh-pits were in sync with each blow to the body. Before playing the song “Perfect People,” Jim listed a few names, dedicating the song to them: “ Jessica Simpson, Ashton Kutcher and Donald Trump.” He then sang: “To all the perfect people…”

Before playing the last song, the band had to stop because a security guard was choking a fan. The band warned security, “don’t choke, don’t choke, you don’t have to choke them.” “Bro Hym” was the last song. As all Pennywise fans know, the song is in memory of ex-band member Jason Matthew Thirsk. Seconds before the last words of the song, Jim left the microphone saying “chill, chill,” as four male fans grabbed the mic and finished the song for him. The band continued to play, but Jim never returned to the stage.

This was the fifth time I’d see Pennywsie and I always leave wishing they would have played four more songs.

Pennywise: http://www.pennywisdom.com/ ◼