What do Harry Potter, Titanic, and Michael Jordan have in common? Well, not much, but they did all have great years way back in 1997. The very first Harry Potter book was released in the UK, Titanic become the highest-grossing movie of all time, and Michael Jordan won his 5th NBA title and Finals MVP with the Chicago Bulls. Jordan is now 52, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone has sold millions of copies, and Titanic has been eclipsed by Avatar in the box office rankings (if not our hearts).
That same year also marked the last time the punk gods Descendents played a show in Massachusetts.
After a series of reunions and breakups since that performance at the Northampton Fair Grounds, the band has been at least somewhat active on the touring scene since 2010, but they’ve certainly picked their sports – playing only large festivals and a few select club gigs.
And that is why the Boston music community collectively flipped out when it was announced that Descendents would close out a week of huge shows at a very small venue as part of the Converse Rubber Tracks series at Sinclair. It was obvious that the lucky few that scored tickets through the lottery were in for what was most likely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Descendents, led by front man Milo Ackerman, have basically influenced every notable punk band over the past 15 years, from NOFX to Green Day to Blink-182 to Bouncing Souls and a score of acts in between.
The significance of this event wasn’t lost on anyone in the crowd or up on stage. Ben Potrykus , the front man of local opener Bent Shapes, credited the group with inspiring him to start a band and recited the story of how he included a Descendents song on the first mix CD he handed the girl who is now his wife.
Potrykus and Co. did their part to get things started off right with a solid opening set that featured a number of new tracks from a full length they recently completed and hope to release in the near future.
Vermont three-piece King Tuff followed, and nearly stole the show with their freewheeling performance and borderline-ridiculous stage presence. All three members of the band seemed to be mocking the garage rock scene they are quickly climbing to the top of, especially front man Kyle Thomas, who wore a studded leather vest, ripped off a series of impressive solos on his studded guitar, wore a hat that simply read “ICE CREAM” across the brim, and looked (and smelled) like he hadn’t showered in weeks.
While not everyone in the crowd was totally into King Tuff’s very high energy set, it did jive well with the focused yet fun atmosphere of the night and the performance that would follow.
After 18 years away, Descendents finally returned to the Boston stage to the howls of a very excited crowd. Ackerman was dressed like a pasty middle-aged man heading to the Y to play some half-court basketball, with short shorts, a headband, and a Harvard basketball that he tossed out to the crowd before kicking things off with “Everything Sux”.
From the opening tip, it became strikingly clear that even though most members of the band are in their 50’s (Ackerman is the same age as Michael Jordan) – they have aged very, very well, and so have their songs.
While much of the band’s earlier work, including fan favorite cuts from 1982’s Milo Goes To College deal with suburban angst and conformity, the record’s general themes of staying true to yourself and not following the crowd obviously still resonate with fans, many of whom have likely been following the band for decades.
Throughout the 30 song set, the band maintained a level of energy that the crowd had a hard time matching, especially later in the night. Ackerman was still bounding across the small Sinclair stage and drummer Bill Stevenson was wildly pounding away behind the kit as the audience started to wilt after expelling so much energy through the first half of the set.
The four-piece closed with a brief encore featuring “Descendents,” and then make their way off stage with a quick “see you next time.” While it’s unclear if or when there might be a next time, there was probably enough adrenaline flowing through Sinclair during the show to keep the band looking (and sounding) young for another 18 years.
