Klassic Pennywise

A few months ago one of the founding members of indiefuzz asked me if I wanted to go see Pennywise. Pennywise? Why does that name sound familiar and leave me with a warm fluffy feeling inside? After a short analysis I remembered that any band that invokes ‘the warm fluffy feeling’ was likely a band I listened to in high school….and thus ‘the warm fluffy feeling’ (ie: the days when someone else did your laundry and things like mortgage payments didn’t yet exist in your small and comforting world). After providing an enthusiast “yes, count me in!” the tickets were purchased and the calendar was marked.

Before biking over to the Melkweg last night I quickly played a few songs of Pennywise from the itunes to refresh my memory…oh yes, we are off to a full on skater punk rock show! Now I know what shoes to wear! To sum it all up – it was fabulous! The crowd was younger than I had thought which turned out to be a good thing as the mosh pit provided a source of entertainment during the show. And who can complain when in an excellent concert venue and the lead singer takes up the classic stance: one leg forward one back…sing loud..and rock back and forth while encouraging the pit to go faster and harder.

The band rocked, not only did they sound excellent but they were thoroughly entertaining with their between song antics. Highlight of the night was clinched by the lead singer as he climbed up to the mezzanine and then jumped off of it landing on the risen hands of the faithful fans below (no not mine, I am too short so my hands were of no use). The fans then ‘surfed’ him back up to the main stage…and yes, he did all this while holding the microphone. I am not sure anymore if he was singing at the time…I was too impressed with the action going on around me.

After a short pause the band came back for the final few songs and in true California style the fans began jumping onto the podium.

Here is a question to our American readers, is this a California thing (as the fans at We are Scientists did it as well) or it is a general good old USA thing..? I would appreciate any insights into this behavior as I find it myself rather baffling.