Oh dearage. It was supposed to be so special - LA punk legends the Descendents making their big UK comeback after 14 years away. With the packed venue teeming with people from far and wide, all here to witness the first of the band’s two sold-out London dates, it seemed so likely that this was going to be a special event. However, it may have all turned out too good to be true.
Launching straight into eponymous track ‘Descendents’ and quickly running through ‘Hope’ and ‘Silly Girl’ from their earliest releases ‘Milo Goes to College’ and ‘I Don’t Want to Grow Up’, the show is already beginning to show signs of marking a welcome return for the influential punk rockers. Unfortunately, it soon becomes noticeably apparent that the performance is being somewhat tainted by singer Milo Aukerman, who appears to be flaunting some unusually hoarse vocals. After some muttering among the crowd, with a few people heard to suggest that the Descendents might be going in a grindcore direction on this occasion, Milo seems to storm offstage. The singer, who is incidentally the face of the band’s albums and their resident research biochemist – the main reason for the Descendents remaining intermittently inactive for so many years - returns a few confused minutes later, at which point drummer and founding member Bill Stevenson makes an embarrassed confession to the baffled crowd: “Milo blew his voice out yesterday, so you have to sing all the songs.”
 This isn’t exactly good news for anyone that has forked out twenty quid to watch a band they’ve been waiting to see for 14 years - especially if they also had to journey a considerable distance into London on top. But anyway, the greying punkers carry on regardless, with Milo taking turns on vocal duties with various members of support acts Dead To Me and Teenage Bottle Rocket. Sadly, this means that we have to miss out on hearing punk classics like ‘Suburban Home’ and ‘I Don’t Want to Grow Up’ being sung as they were meant be sung.
The biggest – and most pleasant – surprise of the evening comes when Eric Melvin, guitarist with fellow Californian punk rockers NOFX and one of the many younger artists that have claimed to be influenced by the Descendents’ music, strolls onstage to takeover on vocals for the track ‘Bikeage’, which brings a rare moment of delight to the evening. “What am I doing here?” he says, voicing the thoughts of almost everyone present. “The Descendents are here, that’s what I’m doing here.” After this, the Descendents leave the stage together, having played for a total of no more than 20 minutes by this point. The audience are left wondering whether the band have finally decided to throw in the towel and call off the gig at a very late last minute. However, a few moments later they return to take up their instruments once again, although not as you might have expected.
Instead of picking up his microphone, Milo has gone straight for the bass guitar. Similarly, guitarist Stephen Egerton swaps places with Bill Stevenson, while bassist Karl Alvarez completes the altered Descendents line-up on lead vocals. Rather than continuing with the original setlist, they opt to perform a couple of classic tracks by one of Stevenson’s other former bands – Black Flag. ‘Jealous Again’ and ‘Nervous Breakdown’ send the moshpit into a brief frenzy, while adding another unexpectedly cheerful moment to proceedings. After a few more punk classic are hastily added to the agenda, the Descendents return to their traditional line-up for closer ‘Myage’, through which Milo bravely struggles.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” one audience participant states graciously. Other crowd members, on the other hand, are less complimentary towards this evening’s events. As the venue begins to empty, a mixture of smiling faces, shaking heads and disgusted looks can be seen heading for the exits. However, regardless of what some people might be thinking about tonight’s performance, there’s no denying that this was a remarkable and frequently surprising show. One of the biggest letdowns of the evening, particularly for any younger Descendents fans, was the severe lack of much from the band’s more recent albums – 1996’s ‘Everything Sucks’ and 2004’s ‘Cool To Be You’. Still, it may not have been the Descendents show that we had hoped for, but it was a lively and largely entertaining gig all the same. Surely that’s what punk rock is all about. Isn’t it?
Stereoboard Rating: 6/10
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