Sum 41 at O2 Academy Brixton, London, gig review: Loud, brash and just what their fans wanted

The crowd were thrilled to see pop punk staples return to London

Sum 41 play at Brixton Academy in London (Chiara Ceccaioni)

Sum 41 return to London with a loud, brash, emphatic show featuring everything you’d come to want and expect from the pop punk band.

Rolling into Brixton Academy at full steam, the energy and passion on opening song ‘A Murder of Crows’ lasts throughout the evening as Deryck Whibley and co pull out all the stops.

Dipping back into their two-decade strong archive, high energy performances of ‘Underclass Hero’ and ‘War’ set the tone for the evening.

A somewhat sombre note shrouds the high-octane performance when Whibley uses the occasion to thank the masses of Sum 41 fans in attendance for their support over the last couple of years, referring to the discussed and often public battle he has faced with alcoholism.

‘Motivation’, ‘We’re all to Blame’, and ‘Walking Disaster’ all follow as the crowd forms small mosh pits and singing along with a band that at one point in time, they weren’t sure they’d be able to see again.

Whibley emerges from the middle of the crowd for his performance of ‘With Me’ before Frank Zummo’s impressive drum solo on ‘God Save Us All’, once again proving the often-under appreciated musical prowess of this pop punk collective.

A cover of ‘We Will Rock You’ preceded one of the biggest songs in the bands repertoire, ‘In Too Deep’. An encore consisting of ‘Crash’ and ‘Pieces’ sees him reunited onstage with the other band members for an emphatic rendition of ‘Fat Lip’ to send the crowd home happy that, at least for now, Sum 41 are back.