Written by: Sierra Grindstaff
On their 2018 Tourage, the Descendents proved that after nearly 40 years of touring they still know how to put on a killer show.
Opening up for the Descendents at the UC Theater in downtown Berkeley, Radkey, a three piece band from St. Louis, Missouri, brought the energy and guitar solos. The trio made up of three brothers, powered through tracks “Love Spills” and “Cat & Mouse”. While guitar solos have never been a custom in punk rock; lead guitarist and vocalist, Dee Radke, had the whole crowd in awe, placing the solos at the right moment, and never over doing it.
The moment lead singer, Milo Aukerman, stepped out on stage with his glasses tightly strapped around his head and the words, “I want to be stereotyped / I want to be classified”, were spoken, it was over. The crowd erupted into excitement and floor opened up. The age divide was ever so present as a young audience member went to end his ride of crowd surfing, but was met by an upset older fan who was in the cross hairs of the crowd surfer’s ride, and punched the surfer in the face. The UC Theater security tolerated zero violence and escorted the abuser away from the front of the stage after the incident occured.
In the crowd, the Descendents had fans of all ages in attendance. Fans that were probably present at the same show as the one my dad attended in ‘95 were there to see their favorite band, some were even joined by their children. Young kids with earplugs and the look of shock in their face as the craziness of the circle pit broke out.
Their music proved to not be outdated as young fans belted out the lyrics to songs such as “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” and the unofficial, official theme song “Descendents”. Also promoting their newest album, Hypercaffium Spaziznate, the newer songs had calm the crowd down for only a few minutes before the pit opened up again for old favorites like “Myage”. Finishing the set with two encores, the crowd exasperated, the intensity of the Descendents followed through until the very last song, “Pep Talk”.
Proving that age is just a number, the connection that the Descendents has with all of their fans, of all ages, made for a memorable performance for everyone participating. 