SUM 41
Tuesday night
Scotiabank Arena
RATING: ***1/2 (3.5 out of four)
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The setting ‘sum’ has almost set.
Ajax, Ont., pop-punk outfit Sum 41, led by resilient singer Deryck Whibley, played the penultimate date of their Tour of the Setting Sum on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena, setting the stage — and anticipation — for the band’s final ever show at the same venue on Thursday night.
Whibley, joined by lead guitarist Dave “Brownsound” Baksh, bassist Jason “Cone” McCaslin, guitarist-keyboardist Tom Thacker and drummer Frank Zummo, are officially wrapping up 29 years as a group that sprang out of suburban Ontario and conquered North America and other parts of the world — but not before a Junos performance on March 30 at the Vancouver ceremony and induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
“Oh, s***,” said Whibley. “It feels good to be home. I can’t believe it. It’s almost over. But we had to save the best for last.”
Sum 41 were clearly in celebration mode on Tuesday night, bringing all the bells and whistles early and often starting with orange firebursts during show opener Motivation, followed by confetti during The Hell Song, laser lights for Over My Head, and red and blue balloons for Underclass Hero.
And that was just the first 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, Whibley, still striking a boyish figure in a torn black Misfits shirt and black jeans, was a whirling dervish of energy as he spoke to the crowd early and often, either commanding them to get louder or sing along while a lively mosh pit formed in front of the stage.
“It’s a celebration of nearly 30 years of Sum 41,” is how he described the night.
In that vein, such rarities as Noots or their very first single and music video Makes No Difference were included in their two-hour set along with earlier hits like Some Say, Walking Disaster — which got the audience lighting up their phones at Whibley’s request, With Me and speedy versions of My Direction, No Brains, and All Messed Up.
For crowdpleasers like Pieces, Fat Lip, Still Waiting, Summer and In Too Deep there were plenty of singalongs and Whibley almost always responded with how much the band has appreciated their fans.
“Thanks for sticking with us all these years, through the good times and the bad, through thick and thin,” he said.
There were also more recent tunes from their 2024 double album, Heaven :x: Hell like Landmines, Dopamine — “I quit that stuff a long time ago,” said Whibley, Preparasi a Salire, Rise Up, and Waiting On a Twist of Fate.
Whibley said he was especially proud to be playing an electric guitar that had gone missing 20 years ago — the victim of theft — that he had somehow been reunited with recently.
“So if you see me smiling, that’s why,” he said.
It’s not like Whibley, once married to fellow Canadian pop-punk star Avril Lavigne, has not led an uneventful life so far in his 44 years on the planet.
He’s since remarried and is a dad of two young children who he said he’d like to read to before they go to bed every night once Sum 41 is off the road.
He’s also battled back from a bad back, alcoholism which caused severe liver and kidney damage, heart failure due to pneumonia and COVID, and stated in his 2024 memoir, Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell, that he was sexually groomed into an abusive relationship with former Sum 41 manager Greig Nori — an allegation which Nori has denied and hired a defamation lawyer.
Nori since filed a notice of action on Jan. 3 with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, stating that he was seeking more than $6 million in damages while Whibley responded by filing his own court notice of action on Jan. 6, stating that he was seeking $3 million in damages.
Whatever happens with the court case, the members of Sum 41 have acquitted themselves nicely in their farewell jaunt, going out on their own terms with still plenty of fuel left in the gas tank.
In fact, when you consider Whibley is only 44, roughly half the age of another formidable rock frontman Mick Jagger (the band covered The Rolling Stones Paint it Black on Heaven:x:Hell), there is very likely a musical act or two in his future.
SET LIST
Motivation
The Hell Song
Over My Head (Better Off Dead)
No Reason
War
Underclass Hero
Noots
Landmines
Dopamine
Snippet of Raining Blood (Slayer cover)
Snippet of Master of Puppets (Metallica cover)
We’re All to Blame
Some Say
Walking Disaster
With Me
Makes No Difference
My Direction / No Brains / All Messed Up
Drum Solo
Preparasi a salire
Rise Up
Pieces
Fat Lip
Still Waiting
ENCORE:
Summer
Waiting on a Twist of Fate
In Too Deep
SECOND ENCORE:
So Long Goodbye