Venue: Fort Gate @ Fort Canning Park, Singapore
Date: 12th April 2012
Promoter: LinVan Productions
Review by: Nadiah H.
Special Thanks: Victoria, JD, and the LinVan Productions team
Photos by Irni S. & Cliff Y.
April 12 2012, 1700 hours saw three quarters of Sum 41 on stage at Fort Gate sound checking after a hectic night at Zirca Club the night before to celebrate Tom’s birthday. It was Sum 41’s third visit in Singapore and I had the pleasure of meeting up with the band for an intimate interview, backstage. Unfortunately, Deryck was resting his vocals for the show but the rest of the band did not disappoint, cracking jokes and telling fandom stories although it was evident in their faces that they were physically drained.
1900 hours saw a queue forming at the entrance of Fort Gate, almost everyone clad in black or to the punk rock theme. Some even had “Sum 41” written all over their arms, so kray! The turn out however, was pretty shocking considering the fact that Sum 41 is such a legendary band and was recently nominated at the Grammys. Oh well, more space for all of us!
2100 hours, the band hadn’t come on stage! The crowd was getting really restless, trying to down heavy amounts of alcohol to set the right amount of high. Lights dimmed, footsteps heard and bam! “Reason To Believe” blasted the night off. The crowd literally went crazy, jumping around, with fists pumped in the air. Who could deny the brilliance of Deryck, Tom, Stevo and Cone? Being famous for large amounts of alcohol consumption before shows, this one was no exception! Deryck with his striking spiky red hair and cheeky grin, was jumping around, inviting fans on stage, jokingly hurling vulgarities with the crowd “F*** F*** F*** MotherF***” and showed frustration at major technical difficulties. He even encouraged the crowd to form a circle pit. Fans of both genders ran, moshed, and punched along to their slamming sounds. Exactly what anyone expects at a punk rock show!
Personal favourites were songs like “Motivation”, “In Too Deep”, “The Hell Song” and “Over My Head” from the bands’ first two albums All Killer, No Filler & Does This Look Infected?. I must say these songs that I grew up with gave me flashbacks to the early years where Sum 41 was making hilarious music videos and playing pranks. Clearly, age is just a number because their hype on stage is just as mind-blowing as they were 10 years ago. Sum 41 unleashed their metal side and covered a quick rendition of Metallica’s “Master Of Puppets”. The band tweaked a bit of their initial set list to cater to the robust crowd who were in their own world, running, body surfing, getting mud all over themselves, jumping, and head-banging in synchronization as if they were in some sort of Sum 41 cult.
Sum 41 came back with “Fat Lip” for the encore with Deryck and his intoxicated red face ironically asking the crowd, “How many of you are drunk?! Well this song is for you!” (enters guitar riffs). During “Pain For Pleasure”, Stevo came front stage and took the lead vocals instead of his usual spot behind the drums. What a refreshing sight. Despite the super duper short setlist, this is definitely one show I would NOT forget. LinVan Productions allowing fans to have a photograph session with Sum 41 and hang out with Malaysian rockers, Bunkface, certainly made it all the more memorable.