Kerrang! Tour 2016 – Day One – Dublin

The Kerrang! Tour 2016 is officially underway! Hear that? That’s the sound of Sum 41, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, ROAM and Biters storming a venue near you…

We’re joining this year’s line-up on the road to get all the backstage gossip from the four bands on the bill, so check back to Kerrang.com each day for a new blog from every date of the tour, and keep up-to-date with all the action on our Instagram account (@kerrangmagazine_). Don’t forget to send us your own pictures and stories using #KerrangTour2016!

Kerrang! Tour 2016 – Day One – Dublin

It’s late afternoon as we arrive at the Dublin Academy, with a decent-sized queue of eager Sum 41 fans already forming down the road. Rock’n’roll mob Biters are in the middle of their soundcheck, while ROAM and Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes are found scoping the venue and setting up before doors open and the madness begins.

There’s no sign of Sum 41 just yet – frontman Deryck Whibley is busy in the dressing room working on his pre-show ritual, while the rest of the band stay back at their hotel and tour bus. Never mind – they’ll be here soon.

Meanwhile, Frank Carter gets in the mood for a party… Smooth.

Eventually the headliners are coaxed out of their cosy settings into the venue to catch up with the rest of the bands on the line-up, and come together for the first group photo of the tour. Aw. LOOK AT THEM ALL!

Biters’ opening set gets the tour off to a cracking start, with the early arrivals being treated to a large dose of old-school rock’n’roll and some quality banter on the side. Job done. As the band head down to their dressing room to cool off before making their way to merch, frontman Tuk Smith gives us his best Deryck Whibley impression, wailing Still Waiting at the top of his lungs. A full band cover version of the track would be nice for the tour, guys, just sayin’.

Back out in the main room, ROAM keep the tempo building with their electric pop-punk and Frank Carter brings destruction and emotion in equal measure to proceedings, while the rest of the bands watch admirably from the side of the stage. Yep, this is already so awesome.

Before our headliners make their long-awaited onstage comeback, we grab a quick word with ROAM singer Alex Costello, who clings on to his post-show kebab and gushes over Sum 41 and, um, cold chocolate.

Speaking of Sum 41, the fivesome are just about to hit the stage… “Are you ready?” Deryck asks the crowd as the lights go down and his question is answered with 900 deafening roars. The pop-punk heroes blast their way through an incredible hour-and-a-half-long set full of treats. Three Metallica covers? A pop-punk rendition of Queen’s We Will Rock You? ALL THE HITS? Awww yeeeeeah! It sure is good to have ’em back.

Spoiler alert – it looked a little something like this:

Cardiff, you’re up next. And you’ve got a lot to live up to…