The Descendents – First Avenue – Minneapolis MN – September 14th 2019

Descendents – First Avenue – Minneapolis MN – September 12th 2019

Descendents at First Avenue 9.12.19

By Danny Sigelman

It was another one for the books at First Avenue as soon as the legendary and most influential pop-punk bands, Decendents took the stage. “We made it! Right up 94E through Saint Paul. Is anyone here from Saint Paul?!” asked lead singer, Milo Aukerman, “Great to be back at First Avenue for the twelve hundreth time.” 

Holding a special place in Descendents lore, First Avenue not only has hosted the band countless times since the 80’s through to today, but also served as a landmark for the band’s classic live record. Notable for capturing the band at their height and shortly before they’d take a 9 year hiatus upon Milo’s foray into his study of Biochemistry, Liveage was recorded at the club and released in 1987. Fucking 32 years ago!! 

Having last headlined the Mainroom as a warm up gig for Riotfest in 2016, it was only fitting for the band to repeat the tradition this time around before the weekend’s Riotfest 2019 in Chicago.

Essentially giving props to the Twin Cities via his Hüsker Dü t-shirt, Milo commanded the definitive lineup of the band and the stoked audience through an enduring, non-stop set of fan favorites that hit upon every era of the band. Their seemingly endless catalog of defiant, often immature and nerdy and at times even sweet power-pop ignited the crowd. Inspiring older and younger crowd surfers and a circling mosh pit throughout each punk anthem, Descendents – propelled by mound of energy, drummer Bill Stevenson – inspired raw aggression and fist pounding sing alongs.

Swinging through the signature tunes, “Hope”, “Clean Sheets” and “I’m the One”, Descendents can stop on a dime and throw out novelty gems “I Wanna Be A Bear”, “I Like Food” or “Weinerschitzel” which please the crowd even more. Admitting the silliness so many years later, before tearing into “Van”, Milo noted, “This is song..well, this song is really stupid!”

Later period Descendents, “Everything Sux”, “On Paper”, “Without Love” and “When I Get Old” sounded awesome as well and the band even pulled out a new single, “Who We Are”, which represented where the band and their fans are at within currents events and aimed straight at the ultra right.

Basically without ever taking a break and with no encore, Descendents covered all the bases and left First Avenue sweaty as hell and ironically, even wanting more.

Setlist:

Suburban Home

Everything Sux

Hope

On Paper

I Wanna Be A Bear

Rotting Out

Victim of Me

Clean Sheets

I Like Food

I’m the One

My Dad Sucks

Van

Nothing with You

Weinerschnitzel

Myage

Who We Are

I’m Not a Punk

Silly Girl

Testosterone

Without Love

I Don’t Want to Grow Up

Feel This

Get the Time

Coffee Mug

Bikeage

When I Get Old

Coolidge

Thank You

Descendents