Live review: Sum 41, The Interrupters live at Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre

Charlotte, NC – 15 May 2024

Tour of the Setting Sum – The final tour

At first, I was excited to check out this outdoor venue, as I had never been to a show there, that was until I saw thunder storms in the weather forecast. Sure enough, on the night of the show the doors got delayed from opening for over an hour and a half due to severe weather. This unfortunately meant Joey Valence and Brae got bumped from the bill for the night. Luckily for anyone in attendance that was not there specifically to see Joey Valence and Brae, the weather cleared up and was rain free the rest of the evening. Both Sum 41 and The Interrupters gave a nice shout out to Joey Valence and Brea and encouraged everyone to check them out which was a nice show of gratitude.

In full transparency, the main reason I was at this show, was to see one of my favorite ska-punk bands The Interrupters.I had seen them live twice before, and saw them as recently as just seven months ago, so I knew what to expect with them. Even though I had just seen them, their set still felt fresh and different from the last show. At first the crowd was a little toned down when they took the stage and many stayed seated as they went into “Take Back the Power”. Now I know most of the crowd was not there for The Interrupters but it didn’t phase the band as they always put in full effort and were determined to get the crowd on their feet. They brought the energy, engaged with the crowd, and the people responded. A few more songs in and most everyone was getting into it and out of their seats. Billy Kottage, the band’s touring keyboard and trombone player, did his wicked trombone part for “Judge Not” and after that it was full on. They played a healthy mix of tracks from their complete discography in what seemed like just short of an hour set. They did their job of pumping up the crowd, raising the energy level, and getting the positive vibes flowing. For me, my evening could have ended there and I would have gone home fulfilled, but there was still the headlining act to come.

Before I move on, I did have one rub with The Interrupters set and that was the sound. My first reaction when they started playing was this venue has some pretty shitty sound, muffled and low volume with no bass. That was until Sum 41 struck their first note and suddenly the sound was great, night and day difference. I don’t know if this is standard practice for the venue, or for Sum 41 shows, or if each band has their own sound mixer, but I would think you’d want all the bands to sound good, not just the headliners. As someone who has worked as a sound mixer, I was quite disturbed by this but, luckily, I didn’t know how much better it could sound until after The Interrupters had left the stage.

I’m just a casual Sum 41 fan, so I can’t tell you all the songs they played and from what albums they covered in their set. I can tell you they played a lot of songs including every one I would have recognized. They must have played for an hour and a half and still did an encore. As someone who didn’t know all the words to sign along too, that didn’t take away from my enjoyment level as there was so much to see. Now I’m someone who is perfectly happy watching a punk band in a dive bar with pour lighting and no backdrop. I’ve also been to larger arena shows with all the bells and whistles, but this show just might take the cake. I may have expected to see lasers and smoke, maybe some pyro flames, but the sheer amount of confetti and streamers that shot out of a cannon, giant beach balls filled with confetti, two different backdrops, one with a skeleton that inflated, it put an Adicts show to shame. They definitely want to give their fans an experience and not just a live show. At one point they even brought out an older drum kit for Frank Zummo to play and the rest of the band crowded around as if they were back jamming in a cramped basement and played some of their older songs. They played a few covers mixed in. One was, as lead singer Deryck Whibley put it, a Social Distortion cover of a Johnny Cash song “Ring of Fire” (which was written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore), and Deryck played a guitar that was used by Mike Ness on Social D’s White Light, White Heat, White Trash album which he stated was of great inspiration for him. It was a memorable experience for everyone there. Maybe some of the theatricals were a bit over the top, at least for the clean-up crew, but when it’s your last tour ever, no need to save anything. This leg of the tour is over but you still have until 30 January, 2025 to catch them live one last time before the Sum sets.