Sum 41 Lit Up The Factory With Final Performance in St. Louis
–by Sean Derrick
To say Wednesday’s final Saint Louis performance by Canadian punk metal band Sum 41 at The Factory was lit, would be an understatement.
The band, currently at the beginning stages of their US leg of their final tour (The Tour of the Setting Sum: The Final World Tour), brought with them everything a great rock concert should have: energy, pyro, energy, great songs, energy, smoke cannons, energy, streamers and oversized balloons, energy, confetti cannons, energy, lasers, energy, guitar and drum solos, energy, mosh pit and crowd surfing, and even used the metal moving gears on the ceiling of The Factory as a disco ball. Oh, did I mention there was energy?
Frontman Deryck Whibley exuded so much energy that the crowd fed off him, and vice versa. From a mosh pit in the front that seemingly did not quit to an ever-present stream of crowd surfers the crowd never let up, and neither did Deryck.
Their set started with a bang, and lots of pyro for the first song “Motivation” from their 2001 official debut album All Killer No Filler. From there they hit into “The Hell Song” and “Over My Head (Better Off Dead) from their 2002 follow-up Does This Look Infected.
But don’t think this was a glorious look back on the past-only show. Sum 41 is going out with a bang and just released their final studio release, the double album Heaven :X: Hell on March 29 to rave reviews. So, it is not surprising that five of the twenty-five songs performed in the nearly 2-hour show were from Heaven :X: Hell.
Whibley’s voice was stellar and the rest of the band (guitarists Dave Baksh and Tom Thacker, bassist Jason McCaslin, and drummer Frank Zummo) were spot on and tight throughout the show.
Roadies rolled out a small 7-piece drum kit during the song “Makes No Difference” (Their first ever single back in 2000 off their debut EP Half Hour of Power) and the rest of the band squeezed together so that they could give a sense to the crowd of how it was like as the band practiced in their basement back then.
One of the highlights (there were many) was playing ‘Ring of Fire” the Social Distortion style cover of the Johnny Cash hit. So, it was a cover of a cover. Love it. It was also special in that Whibley brought out the guitar used by Mike Ness when Social Distortion recorded that song in 1990. Whibley recently purchased the guitar and it is one of his prized possessions.
The Interrupters supported the show with a fantastic up-tempo show that surely gained new fans and ended with their hit “She’s Kerosene”.
While rappers Joey valence and Brae did a fine job as the openers with their Beastie Boys-influenced style, especially evident on “Punk Tactics” and Brae’s hyperactive stage presence.
Top to bottom this show was fire and fitting for not only the name of the album, but for their final ever Saint Louis performance. I absolutely love when a band quits with a stellar performance and not some money grabbing drawn out tour with a shell of a performance as the last thing fans remember them with. Sum 41 absolutely is going out on top of their game, and is giving their fans a great last tour to remember them by. I’ll certainly remember feeling like a confetti snow cone during the first song while I was in the pit taking photos. I was still finding confetti in my hoodie and shirt even when I got home. Ahhh souveniers.
Catch them if you can on this leg of the tour. They will then head over to Europe in June. There will be a 2nd North American leg that will begin in August and will carry the band through the end of the year with a final ever show in Toronto on January 30, 2025.
Please check out the complete gallery of photos below, after the setlist.
Upcoming Sum 41 shows:
April 30 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway^
May 1 – Portland, ME – Cross Insurance Arena^
May 4 – Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony Summer Stage^ – SOLD OUT
May 5 – New York, NY – Brooklyn Paramount^
May 6 – New York, NY – Brooklyn Paramount^
May 8 – Reading, PA – Santander Arena^
May 9 – Raleigh, NC – The Red Hat Amphitheater^
May 11 – Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy^
May 12 – Daytona Beach, FL – Welcome To Rockville*
May 14 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium^
May 15 – Charlotte, NC – Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre^
May 17 – Columbus, OH – Sonic Temple*
May 18 – Philadelphia, PA – Skyline Stage at The Mann^
May 19 – Norfolk, VA – Chartway Arena^
June 13 – Interlaken, Switzerland – Greenfield Festival 2024*
June 14 – Hradec, Czechia – Rock For People*
June 15 – Nickelsdorf, Austria – Nova Rock*
June 16 – Derby, United Kingdom – Download Festival*
June 19 – Dublin, Ireland – Fairview Park
June 21 – Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany – Southside Festival*
June 22 – Lyon, France – Slamdunk*
June 23 – Schneesel, Germany – Hurricane Festival*
June 26 – Viviero, Spain – Resurection*
June 28 – Ysselsteyn, Netherlands – Jera on Air*
June 29 – GeiselWind, Germany – Mission Ready*
June 30 – Marmande, France – Garorock*
July 4 – Nantes, France – La Nuit de ;’Erdre*
July 5 – Werchter, Belgium – Rock Werchter*
July 6 – Belfort, France – Les Eurockéennes*
July 7 – Hunxe, Germany – Ruhrpott Rodeo*
July 9 – Milan, Italy – I-Days*
July 11 – Argeles sur mar, France – Les Deferlantes*
July 12 – Madrid, Spain – Madcool*
July 13 – Lisbon, Portugal – Nos Alive*
August 1 – Rimouski, Quebec – Parc Beausejour
August 3 – New Glasgow, Nova Scotia – The Jubilee 2024*
August 4 –Saint John, New Brunswick – Area 506 Festival 2024*
August 7 – Saguenay, Quebec – La Baie’s Harbor Village Agora*
August 8 – Québec, Quebec – Quebec City Old Port Agora* – SOLD OUT
August 9 – Victoriaville, Quebec – Rock La Cauze*
September 3 – San Francisco, CA – Masonic Auditorium^
September 4 – San Francisco, CA – Masonic Auditorium^
September 6 – Portland, OR – Alaska Airlines’ Theater Of The Clouds^
September 7 – Seattle, WA – Wamu Theater^
September 8 – Boise, ID – Revolution Concert House and Event Center^
September 10 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Lot at The Complex^
September 11 – Denver, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre^
September 12 – Des Moines, IA – Vibrant Music Hall^
September 14 – Detroit, MI – Masonic Temple^
September 15 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center^
September 17 – Coraopolis, PA – UPMC Events Center^
September 23 – Miami, FL – The Fillmore Miami Beach^
September 24 – Orlando, FL – Orlando Amphitheater^
September 26 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life 2024*
September 28 – Austin, TX – H-E-B Center at Cedar Park^
September 29 – Houston, TX – 713 Music Hall^
September 30 – Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory^
October 2 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre^
October 3 – Los Angeles, CA – YouTube Theater^
October 5 – Las Vegas, NV – Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino^
November 23 – Nanterre, France – Paris La Défense Arena – SOLD OUT
January 28, 2025 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
January 30, 2025 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena – SOLD OUT FINAL SHOW
* Festival Appearance
^ with The Interrupters
Check out more pics from the show below after the setlist:
Sum 41 Setlist:
Motivation
The Hell Song
Over My Head (Better Off Dead)
No Reason
Underclass Hero
Some Say
Landmines
Dopamine
We’re All to Blame
Walking Disaster
With Me
Makes No Difference
My Direction/No Brains/All Messed Up
Drum Solo
Preparisi a Salire
Rise Up
We Will Rock You (Queen cover)
Ring of Fire (Merle Kilgore cover)
Pieces
Fat Lip
Still Waiting
Encore:
Best of Me
Waiting on a Twist of Fate
In Too Deep
