Live Review: Pennywise, The Bronx, Beerwolf

Sydney's very own raucous punk rock jesters Beerwolf kicked off proceedings with a set mostly culled from their debut Post Youth Crisis platter. It's always hard supporting iconic punk bands with a rabid fanbase but the boys did an admirable job and may have even won a few of the Pennywise faithful over to their cause.

There's something visceral and almost primal about The Bronx. Channelling a Stooges-like energy, the quintet launched into a breathless set that saw frontman Matt Caughthran end up in the crowd mere minutes into their ferocious outing. Over the course of a tightly packed hour the boys proved themselves to be true co-headliners with the likes of Heart Attack American, White Guilt and the ever-popular History's Stranglers inciting pit after pit and a wave of bodies depositing themselves on the hard-working security staff. Who would have thought these maniacs have their own mariachi side project?

Of late Pennywise have really got into this whole 'play classic album X from start to finish' with the self-titled debut, Unknown Road and About Time both getting the treatment. This time around it was Full Circle, an album made in the wake of bassist Jason Thirsk's suicide and perhaps the most pissed off set of tunes the band ever penned. While the more high profile tracks like Fight Till You Die, the inexplicably popular Society and Date With Destiny got the loudest cheers, it was the rarely played deep album cuts that made the set special. Running Out Of Time, Nowhere Fast and the nitro charged Did You Really? (written about Thirsk's death) were welcome intruders into the set of a band that has played countless times on these shores. Unfortunately, Fletcher Dragge's guitars were muffled at times in a bass and drum-heavy mix (a perennial problem for this band it seems) but this wasn't enough to take away from an overall solid performance. The Hermosa Beach legends finished off proceedings with some classic cuts (Same Old Story and Pennywise), a brace of covers and the ever-reliable chaos inducing Bro Hymn. Say what you want about Pennywise - this is a band that inspires fierce loyalty in Australian audiences who rightly consider them honorary locals.