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Sum 41 @ SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, Canada

Words: Miljan Milekić

I still remember the Fall of 2002, when I first stumbled on a ‘Still Waiting’ music video flipping through the channels on the beat-up old TV in my teenage room. Growing up in Southeast Europe, I had no clue who the hell Sum 41 were – I might even legitimately think they were called The Sums, but my 13-year-old brain was blown away. Being obsessed with Mat Hoffman’s and Tony Hawk’s video games, I was just getting into punk rock music, and the band checked all the boxes. They were fast, energetic, aggressive, and melodic. And with every new song I’ve heard, I just liked them even more.

Fast forward to 2025, the band is a year removed from the release of their final record ‘Heaven :x: Hell,’ touring Canada one last time before they call it a day. In the meantime, I saw the band play live a few times. I had the chance to meet (and interview) Cone and Dave who turned out to be amazing guys. And more than two decades later, I still love the band. Not in a cheesy, nostalgic, “I used to listen to them in high school way,” but in a genuine “I’d probably make ‘Landmines’ my ringtone hadn’t my phone been set on vibrate since I first got one at eleven years old.” So, ever since this tour was announced, there was a big, fat “X” on all of my calendars marking January 18th.

The first band to hit the stage on all of the dates on this tour is Vancouver’s own Gob. Led by Tom Thacker, who clocked in his first shift of the night, and Theo Goutzinakis, they started things off with ‘Give Up the Grudge,’ quickly getting the first rows to sing back at them. Gob is another one of the bands I knew forever, first hearing them in one of the ‘American Pie’ movies, and one I was happy to see, even for a couple of songs. And that’s pretty much what we got – a short set, filled with heavy hitters such as ‘Oh Ellin,’ ‘Soda,’ or ‘I Hear You Calling,’ intertwined with some funny banter between Thaker and the Goutzinakis, providing a perfect warm-up for what’s to follow, and cementing my intent to see them again, at their own show.

Speaking of having to see a band again, it definitely applies to the next band to hit the stage – Toronto’s PUP. This was just not enough. In the past 10-ish years, they might be one of the most fun bands in the punk rock scene, combining everything from indie rock to hardcore, while delivering heartfelt and clever lyrics. A bit of an outsiders stylistically, compared to the other bands on the bill they had an uneasy task of winning the crowd, which they did seemingly effortlessly. “I know many of you might not know us, but we hope you like it,” announced the singer Stefan Babcock, near the end of the show – “And if you don’t, it will be over soon. And also – Fuck you!”

Not long after that we got a more in-depth analysis – “We see some people in the front having a great time, we see people on the sides having a great time. And we see two guys in Banana costumes looking fucking miserable!” The whole thing was even funnier after witnessing a convert firsthand – a young Sum 41 fan hating the guts of the band when they kicked things off with Totally Fine,’ screaming “No!” and “Go Away!” The band didn’t even get the chance to finish their second song – Kids,’ before he started headbanging, and by song three or four, he was fully into it. The band, on the other hand, did what they do best – stormed through the set with the type of energy that only bands that live in tour vans can. 

The moment Sum 41 got on the stage, it felt like the place exploded, quickly turning -30ºC outside into +30ºC inside the arena. Right off the bat, the band fired off ‘Motivation,’ followed by ‘The Hell Song’ and ‘Over My Head,’ making sure that everyone in the crowd would go crazy. Right there and then a few things became clear. First – this is by no means a band that looks or sounds like they have less than 2 weeks before they call it off. Not only do they sound better than they did in years, but they also look like they genuinely have fun on stage. All the little things were there – subtle looks, whispers, laughs, and smiles during and in between songs just cemented the impression.

Second – it was clear we were in for a long night. With 29 years under the belt, Sum 41 had so many songs to pick and choose from, many of them being massive, generation-defining hits. Therefore it wasn’t the slightest surprise that every single song was followed by chaos in the crowd. Circle pits, walls of death, and crowd surfing during heavier songs clashed perfectly with sing-alongs and flashlights during slower, and more emotional songs, making a perfect balance during two hour-set. For every ‘No Reason’ or ‘We Are All To Blame,’ there was a ‘War’ or Some Say.’ For every new track like ‘Landmines’ and ‘Dopamine,’ there was an older track or a deep cut such as ‘Noots’ or ‘Makes No Difference.’

With every new song, it seemed like the bond between the band and the crows was stronger. We got stories, memories, confessions – “This song is about happy chemicals, but the ones you make, not the ones you take. I’m done with that shit.” We saw Deryck’s first guitar, the one he recovered 20 years after being stolen, and collectively hated the guy who stole it in the first place. Sometime mid-show, during the short break in the form of ‘Preparasi a Salire,’ a familiar face popped up. The big, inflatable Satan raising four fingers on one, and the middle finger on the other hand, decided to check up on his favorite band, and songs like ‘Rise Up,’ ‘Pieces,’ ‘Fat Lip,’ and ‘Still Waiting.’ The last two especially caused chaos in the crowd, followed by tons of confetti and enough firepower to equip a smaller army.

The encore – or approximately 6.5 seconds the band left the stage for, brought “the oldest Sum 41 song they know,” aka ‘Summer,’ followed up by a brand-new single ‘Waiting on a Twist of Fate,’ and the massive ‘In Too Deep,’ sung by everyone in the crowd, as a perfect farewell. Or so we thought. After a few minutes of dark, accompanied by Sinatra’s ‘My Way,’ Whibley returned to the stage for one last track of the night – ‘So Long Goodbye,’ as a final reminder that this was the last Saskatoon show, that didn’t feel like it. And that’s the thing – with their sound, energy, and fun Sum 41 brought to the stage, it felt like they made damn sure that everyone brings home only the best memories. And if they ever decide to do this again, the door will be wide open. I mean, people change their minds, right? Fingers crossed.

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