Pennywise
December 12, 2014
Ventura Theatre- Ventura, CA
Punk veterans Pennywise embarked on their 25th anniversary tour. Not only did they release their new album, Yesterdays, on July 15, 2014, but longtime and original singer Jim Lindberg returned to the band since his departure in 2009. With those two additions, Pennywise had plenty to offer for their live shows for both old school and new fans.
Pennywise made a tour stop at the Ventura Theater in Ventura, California and boy was it quite the experience. The show promptly started at 10pm and Pennywise started things off with the song, Pennywise, after their band name which they took from the Stephen King novel, IT. Right from the start, Pennywise fans started going wild and crazy as they shoved each other and moshed in a classic punk concert style. You could feel the energy Pennywise gives off from their performance 
no matter where in the venue you were. Vocalist Jim Lindberg showed no signs of slowing down as he acted like a wild-man by running around on stage and yelling into the microphone with perfection to the songs as if age has unaffected his vocal chords.
Pennywise’s setlist consisted of a mix of old and newer material. They performed Noise Pollution from the new Yesterdays album for the first time in the USA at this show which made it special. The highlight of the night had to have been when guitarist Greg Hetson (ex-Bad Religion and ex-Circle Jerks) came out to join Pennywise for a cover of Bad Religion‘s Do What You Want. Before the song started, Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge asked the crowd while Greg Hetson was present if they wanted a Circle Jerks reunion tour. To no surprise, the Ventura Theater crowd erupted with the biggest scream of the night in agreement.
Pennywise dedicated the song Perfect People to anyone that had tattoos, mohawks, and piercings of any kind, because to them, those are the perfect people. The time came for the show to come to an end and Pennywise ended the show with the always show finisher, the anthem Bro Hymn. That song caused the biggest mosh pit of the night and by the time the song ended, the moshers were worn out and covered in sweat. Pennywise have been making music for 25 years and with the release of their eleventh studio album, they won’t be stopping anytime soon.
Review by: Misael Ruiz
