(As published for Bournemouth Daily Echo)
CANADIAN
punk rockers Sum 41 treated a sold-out Southampton Guildhall to a
brilliant set on this leg of their first UK tour since back injury put
an end to the 2007 tour.
They
opened with the title song to their most recent album, Underclass Hero,
and very quickly whipped the crowd into a frenzy with popular hit
motivation.
Lead
singer Deryck Whibley encouraged an unusually high amount of audience
participation, and chose a number of lucky fans to join him on the
stage to witness live material at such high quality that you would be
forgiven for thinking it cane straight from the studio.
Whibley
went on to don some dark glasses, turn up his collar and, with a pillow
up his shirt, delivered his version of Elvis Presley's That's Alright
Mama to the delight of the band's followers.
Other
songs in their set included Over My Head (Better Off Dead), Machine
Gun, Makes No Difference, Walking Disaster and the ultimate crowd
pleaser, In Too Deep.
After
desperate pleas from the audience, the band closed with an encore of
three songs: My Direction, Fat Lip and Pain For Pleasure.
The band continues their UK tour with visits to Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Birmingham.
Allana Cutter