It all  began at Utopia Records in Sydney for an instore appearance by the Descendents, attended by about 80 or so people. Ray Ahn from the Hard Ons has been a long time employee of Utopia and a well-documented fan of the band too. He looked pretty stoked to have punk rock royalty gracing the store.

After lining up for an autograph session, patrons were then given the opportunity of getting their photo taken with the band. Having got a poster signed that will be going straight to the pool room, I passed on the photo. Felt weird enough lining up.

I made it to Luna Park to hear Irrelevant had already commenced their set. Being a 7:30 kick off on the other side of the bridge, the 3000 capacity venue was pretty empty with maybe 200 people there, which did nothing to help the sound. Regardless, Irrelevant blazed through a set of classics that featured all of the landmark “Reflecting and Refracting” EP, that was well received by those in attendance.

By the time Bodyjar hit the stage, the crowd had quadrupled in size. The extra heads sure helped out the sound of the room. Playing a set of both older and more recent material, it was great to hear songs like “Glossy Books” and their cover of “Hazy Shade Of Winter” again. Would have loved to hear more off “Rimshot” or even the whole album in full, but I’m sure the band are sick of playing those songs by now. I’ve always had a soft spot for Bodyjar and given their connection to the Descendents with Bill and Steve producing their first record, they were a perfect support.

The Bouncing Souls were up next and the room had filled up nicely. While they sounded great, throwing a mix of new songs off “Comet” into a set of songs from past releases, I really do find their stage presence to be a bit dull at times. Frontman Greg Antonio’s voice comes across sounding amazing, but he looks to be stuck in second gear for the whole set. I have noticed this before when watching them play live, but tonight it seems to be even more noticeable. Nevertheless classic songs like “True Believers” go down a treat with the crowd.

The Descendents hit the stage at around 11pm, belting out a ridiculous amount of songs for the next hour. The set list left no stone unturned as they touched on every single release, nearly playing all of “Milo Goes To College” over the course of their time on stage. Sure they looked a little older than their last visit, but the showmanship was still there as was the musicianship. I said it last time around I know, but individually these guys are all masters of their role in the band. Stepping back and focusing on what one person is playing during a song really adds a new level of admiration to what is happening on stage. For guys who are close to 50, they really are an untouchable band. The encore featured a lengthened version of “Kabuki Girl” into one of my faves “Catalina” and I awoke the next morning still smiling.

Big thanks to Blue Murder and Destroy All Lines for making another awesome tour happen. Good times…