 "Photo:")
Feb. 25, 2009
Pennywise pounded the Senator Theatre with punk anthems Tuesday night.
The Darlings, TAT and Authority Zero gave spirited pregame performances, but the crowd showed up ready for Pennywise. Some wore black shirts branded with the headliner's P-W logo.
Fans from across Northern California made their ways to Chico just to see Pennywise. Justin Nurse from Grass Valley was introduced to the band through dirt bike videos. It was his first Pennywise concert, and he was overtly excited.
"They're literally my inspiration in life," Nurse said.
Adam Noble from Weaverville might not have made it to the show had he not won tickets from a radio station, he said. He was a 10 on the stoked scale.
Pennywise was one of the bands that introduced him to punk rock, he said.
"They've been one of my favorite bands since I was a little kid," Noble said.
The Darlings, from the Bay Area, opened the night with a set of anthem punk songs. The crowd wasn't quite packed in and didn't respond right away. The Darlings pushed on with deep bass lines and crashing drums.
The rhythm overshadowed the guitar riffing and the vocals. The lead guitarist rocked a matte black hollow-body. During solos, the sound was rich like chocolate with 80 percent cocoa solids.
After a few songs the crowd warmed up and small mosh pit formed. The Darlings pumped out poppy punk until it was time for TAT.
If The Darlings warmed up the crowd, TAT lit it aflame.
TAT hails from London and gave the crowd what The Darlings didn't. Singer-guitarist Tatiana DeMaria worked the stage like a caricature of a rock star.
She stood on a speaker and rocked right in front of the crowd's faces, then fell to her knees and jammed Hendrix-style. At a song break, DeMaria made cracks about poor American beer, inciting yells from the crowd.
Before playing "Champagne, Cocaine and Strawberries," DeMaria poured water on her head and shook out her hair across the stage. During the song she did hair-metal style pelvic thrusts. She played the solo with her guitar behind her head.
After the performance, audience stood in the lobby and talked about TAT.
After a short break, Authority Zero kept the punk-rock night alive. Some songs had a rock-steady beat. Singer Jason DeVore made sure to work both sides of the stage. The pit grew, and the moshing spread across floor.
The instruments collided with each other on some songs, making it difficult to hear each part. Yet, the crowd continued to jump, throw fists into the air and slam into each other.
Next up was Pennywise.
Pennywise played in front of a massive black banner bearing the band's logo in red. After a seemingly improvised false-start bit, Pennywise rocked party punk to a packed pit.
Randy Davenport can be reached at rdavenport@theorion.com
Be the first to comment on this article!