Friday night was a night for punk rock nostalgia as two old school bands – Descendents and Buzzcocks – took to the stage at the Danforth Music Hall as part of their Canadian tour. And in honour of the occasion, they even had t-shirts for sale that blended the iconography of both bands: a take on the Buzzcocks’ “Orgasm Addict” single cover that incorporated a coffee mug, the Descendents’ Milo logo, and the phrase “Caffeine Addict.” Clever stuff.
While we’re on the subject of t-shirts, Descendents frontman Milo Aukerman started off their set by pointing out that he wore his favourite t-shirt this evening, with the words “North American Waste” written across the front. Before launching into the music, he took a moment to cover the word “North” with blue tape, explaining that while America sucks, the rest of North America is alright. Guitarist Stephen Egerton jumped in to ask whether everything sucks, and the answer came loud and fast with the band’s opening track – “Everything Sux,” the almost-title track from 1996’s Everything Sucks.
From there, Descendents ripped through a high-energy set filled with their trademark short, fast, and melodic punk tunes – 33 songs in total, including classics like “Rotting Out,” “I’m the One,” and “Wienerschnitzel.”
Immediately before Descendents would take to the stage, OG English punk rockers Buzzcocks got the crowd warmed up with a solid performance. Dressed in a polka-dot button-up and white pants, 70-year-old frontman (and lone original member) Steve Diggle led the band through a set of timeless tracks like “What Do I Get,” “I Don’t Mind,” and “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve).”
While the band that wrote songs like “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” and “When I Get Old” have, in fact, gotten old, Descendents (and Buzzcocks) proved on Friday night that there’s still some truth to the old adage that punk’s not dead – even if it is now old enough to qualify for a pension.
