It’s a day many thought would never come. After 30 years of fat lips, walking disasters, and things that look infected, Sum 41 are calling it a day. Having been something of a permanent fixture of our world for so long, it was assumed the Canadian punks would stick around ’til the bitter end, but rather than becoming part of the furniture they’ve decided to blow up the house entirely and go out in a blaze of glory with one more UK tour, including London’s iconic OVO Arena Wembley.
Surprisingly, in the past three decades Sum 41 have only played here once before, in 2003, but after a summer festival run that saw them pull one of the biggest crowds of the weekend at Download, it’s no surprise they’re back in one of the largest venues these isles have to offer. And for good reason – it is packed in here tonight.
With a curtain hanging over the stage, the swarming crowd are well and truly up for it, belting out Last Resort and American Idiot along with the PA, surging ever-forward (we even spy Eurovision star Sam Ryder pushing his way down front). And as the lights go down and the unmistakable sounds of AC/DC’s TNT blast out across the north London hall, Deryck Whibley rushes the stage with his merry men, launching straight into Motivation at such cacophonous volume it would do ’DC proud.