Kari's Concert Collection

Fun With Cover Songs

By the time the doors opened, my hands were frozen. I had switched jackets last minute and forgot to move the gloves into the pockets. Many people were wearing T-shirt and no jackets. They had to have been frozen. There was this one kid that skipped around in the parking lot, arms flailing. It was even funnier when he did it a second time with his shirt tied up like Britney Spears. What was assumed to be Sum 41's tour bus was parked right there on the street. I'm sure it was theirs- a Canadian flag was up in the window. The bus was really dirty, and some people wrote stuff in the dirt.

Finally around 5:00 we were let in. Once inside, I let myself thaw out and picked out a spot to stand. I could have easily gone straight to the front but decided to stick to the back. There were pillars on either side of the floor. We stood in front of one on the right side, which gave something to lean on. It also gave leverage to push up on and stand taller than the rest of the crowd. Plus you couldn't be pushed forward from behind. I would have preferred the 2nd floor, which I could go to 'cause it was 18 plus, but I had no ID to get up there. The balcony probably had the best view in the house. But, this spot was plenty good.

Around 5:30 the first opening act came out. It was Authority Zero, the opener I was most familiar with. And my favorite of the three opening acts, mostly because I knew a couple of the songs. I knew their song "One More Minute," which is kinda reggae sounding. They did two other songs that were cool too. One had the same verse repeated over and over again, getting faster each time. It was really cool, even though it did remind me a country square dance song. The second was a cover of the song "La Bamba."

There was about 15 minutes between acts for stage setup changes. A lot of people were throwing water bottles around. A guy came out and said that if they didn't stop the show would end right then and there. The next band was No Use For A Name. I was least familiar with them. They probably had the most crowd surfing of the openers. One of the prime launching spots was to my right. It was amusing watching the ones that didn't take off well. The band complained about the weather, because they were the only band not from "The Arctic". They're from California.

More set up time, and The Starting Line came out. The only song I had heard of them before was from the "Punk Goes Pop" album. And they played that song. It was mentioned that it was the first time on the tour they had to play a longer set. So, they did that song although it normally isn't done. They did the cover of "I'm Real" by JLo and Ja Rule, by the way. They had, by far, the biggest moshpit. It took up like 75% of the floor. It was entertaining watching from behind and to the right, and must have been even more from above. They were the most hyper, too. The lead singer was swinging his guitar over his head, and the guitarist bounced off the wall, literally. That was kinda cool looking, actually.

There was a longer set up time before Sum 41. The backdrop was uncovered, which was the band's logo with the skull design. The crowd started up a Sum 41 chant a few times. And finally around 8:10, Sum 41 took the stage. I can't totally remember the exact set list song order. I do have a complete list of all the songs performed, somewhat in the correct order. I know for sure that the first 6 songs and the last 2 are right. Better than nothing, I guess.

The opening song was "Mr. Amsterdam." I really liked the lighting effects used during the show. It shows that the basic colored lights and fog can go a long way. The colors were very vibrant and reflected so pretty through the fog. And it was even cooler when the band members stood up on the higher platforms in the center and on either side of the stage. The colored light came from behind and created a neat silhouette. My favorite of the colors was the purple. It was neat how the colors changed and flickered to the beat of the music. Anyway, enough about the lighting.

The next song was "My Direction." For whatever reason, the first verse of that song makes me laugh. The statistics line reminds me of System of a Down. I noticed Deryck used the line "Gee Golly" a lot though out the show. Funny phrase to use. Next song was "All Messed Up". Deryck went up onto the higher stage, and it appeared that every single person with a camera took a photo. He stood awhile making poses. I got a photo of one of the poses. It's funny how the entire crowd surges to the right whenever you're about to take a photo. I took an entire 24 roll of film, and only 8 turned out. Most were blurry from being jostled. But, that's okay.

Next was "Fat Lip". Everyone did the bounce thing where every fifth jump was higher. After that song was over Deryck said he had something to say, and that it was going to be the only intelligent thing he will say for the entire show. He said to shut up and pay attention. He basically said to make sure no one gets hurt, and to help people up that fall down. And then we go into "Crazy Amanda Bunkface." I noticed a slight lyrics change. Instead of "When I'm only 19" it was "When I'm only 23." The song "Thanks For Nothing" was next. The kinda rapping parts that seem to be Steve's on the album had Deryck singing. After that song they yelled at someone for screwing up the 41 salute. He was spelling out 14 instead.

Next during "Machine Gun" they asked who had seen them in concert before and who was for the first time. More appeared to scream for the first time. They then had the big singalong with the "na-na-na" line. "All She's Got" was the next song. I'm running out of things to say for every single song. I haven't really mentioned the moshpit, so how about that? It was just to the left of me most of the time. Dad stood on my left, and seemed to enjoy watching the moshpit kids. I even saw him push some of the rowdier kids. Next comes one of the more entertaining parts.

Deryck again yells for everyone to shut up, and then apologized for scolding. He then repetitively says how he's so full of love. He then wants to dedicate the next song to a girl very close to them. The crowd spouts out different names. Deryck says, "No, it's not Avril. Contrary to popular belief, it's not Avril Lavigne. It's Anna Nicole Smith!" And the song was "A.N.I.C." That song just makes me laugh. It's just so mean. Deryck continues with the so full of love thing. He asked someone what their name was and then said "I love you, Troy." We then hear the one sided conversation with Troy. It went something like, "What? You talkin' to me Troy? He said yeah... You wanna piece of me, Troy? You wanna piece of me? You wanna come up here and fight?" This then leads into a cover song. I didn't catch the artist or full title, but it was Kung Fu something. I had never heard it before.

Deryck asks what song we want to hear next. He asked Troy what he wanted, but couldn't hear him. More one-sided conversation of "No... no... we already played that, pay attention." Finally they play "No Brains" for this guy with a sign that said it was his birthday. Between songs the crowd started the Sum 41 chant again. "They're coming out next. Sum 41 comes out after us," Deryck replies. Again, I don't remember the song order, but at some point they played "Over My Head." They also did "Heartattack." Everyone got excited as soon as the guitar intro began. It's one of my favorites as well. I'll now mention how throughout the show Deryck would cough, and then over exaggerate extremely. It was quite hilarious, actually. Sounded like he was hacking up a hairball or something. They played "Nothing on my Back" Around now. Actually, I think it was earlier, but they did play it.

And next on my list will be "In Too Deep." I liked the guitar intro to it. It was kinda funky. Dave rocked his solo. It was extended just a tad. He rocked all of the solos, and they got some nice cheering after each one. Dad even whistled. I liked it when Dave was windmilling his arm around as he played. He didn't do the thing when you play the guitar with the guitar behind your head. But that was something they did more around the time they first came out. And here begins the next more entertaining segment.

They performed "Makes No Difference," and cut it in the middle to play some random song requests. Well, it begins with them starting some song, wanting the audience to continue, and like only one guy knew it. Deryck says something like, "What's wrong with you? No one knows Public Enemy? What do you want to hear?" And more one sided conversation of "No... no... I don't like that song... I don't know how to play that..." Dave suggests "Beat It", Deryck replies, "You wanna play Michael Jackson? Wait, who wants to hear some Avril Lavigne?" And the crowd starts booing. "Geez, I was just kidding." was the response. It woulda been funnier if they just broke into "S8er Boi." Anyway, Deryck thinks he knows what we want to hear, and plays some examples of Queens of the Stoneage and The Strokes. And everyone cheers.

They conclude that we want to hear some metal, and ask if this next song was considered metal. They play some Metallica, and everyone sings along. Again, it woulda been funnier if it was something as far from metal as humanly possible. Like, I don't know, Aaron Carter or something. No, wait, the Spice Girls. Anyway, back to the concert. Deryck decides he figured out what the kids are listening to, and spouts out different ways of saying that he was hip using a bunch of slang terms, "I'm hip, I'm cool, and I know what's happening!" He says things about the youth of today saying they "do drugs, skip school, and go outside after the streetlamps are on and it's dark and scary." Yeah, it was pretty funny. And "Make's No Difference" continues to the end. Remember? That's the song they were in the middle of when all that began.

Now there's like four songs left that I haven't mentioned yet. Well, I know they did "The Hell Song", "Rhythms" and "Still Waiting." I'm pretty sure "Motivation" was played, but I could be wrong. There was a nice singalong at the beginning of "Still Waiting." And I haven't mentioned anything Cone did yet. At one point he held his bass up at the balcony. To see if anyone up there would touch it or something I think. And then they leave the stage. And everyone starts clapping and chanting for the encore.

After a moment Sum 41 came back out and played "Hooch." I really like it, how it switches to a slow harmony ending. Deryck was up at the higher point where a second microphone was. I think he mouthed something about the mic not working and went back down to the other one to finish the song. I started to do this arm-waving thing. The girl standing by me started to do it too. It then catches on to like ten more people. So that was cool. They then decide to let Steve out from behind the drumkit to sing "Pain For Pleasure." It was funny- he was imitating the guitar parts and had the audience join in. And when it was over, they played it again. And more fun guitar imitating. Steve schooled the crowd on the proper way to do the imitation.

Steve then introduced everyone. Cone played a cool bass line and Deryck played some drums. And that was it. I was kinda disappointed the didn't play "It's What We're All About." That's another song where Steve is in the front. But I can't complain too much, it was a rocking show. Up there with the Obvious Tour and Dreamchaser. We had to wait nearly ten minutes before getting out. There were band street team people outside handing out stickers and flyers and stuff like that. And the tourbus was still out front. Some people went over to it to write stuff in the dirt. And I'm sure some were going to wait until the band came out. If it was warmer I might have too. I want to know if any of the stickers ended up on the bus. I know I thought about doing that. And that was the concert!

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