US punk legends Pennywise are returning to Australia this month, smashing their version of musical madness across the country for the first time since the 2019 25th Anniversary tour in honour of the album Straight Ahead.
That whole tour sold out across the nation, and this time around the band feels confident they can do so again.
Despite having no new material to draw from between visits, Pennywise are a band known for the unexpected and as such travel around the globe at their own free will, occasionally stopping by cities around the world to re-fresh the souls of the punk faithful.
“We’ve been to Europe and Canada, so it’s about time we got down there to Australia and mess things up for the people down there.”
Fletcher Dragge
With the opening show of the Pennywise tour counting down rapidly towards a September 17 date with Chelsea Heights, guitarist Fletcher Dragge joined HEAVY to chat about the run of shows and what to expect.
“The best part is we’re bringing the Circle Jerks with us, one of my favourite bands of all time,” he enthused. “It’s gonna be a great show. It’s the 25th anniversary of Unknown Road, so we’re gonna be playing a few heavier songs off that album, but all in all just really happy to be back Down Under. It’s been a minute. I think the last time we were there was for the Straight Ahead Tour, and genuinely miss coming down there. It’s one of my favourite places to tour by far because we get some waves, have some fun shows, have a meat pie, I can’t wait. We’ve always had a lot of love from the Aussie crowds. We always look forward to this time of the year because we have been pretty this last year and everyone’s amped to get back at it playing shows. We’ve been to Europe and Canada, so it’s about time we got down there to Australia and mess things up for the people down there.”
In the full interview, Fletch talks about how different this tour will be despite no new music coming out in between trips, why he thinks Aussie fans relate to Pennywise, Straight Ahead being certified gold, what the band gets for the milestone, Circle Jerks and why Pennywise chose to bring them out, preparing them for shows on their visit to the country, the early days of Pennywise and where they fit in, new music and more.
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Intro track HELLZ ABYSS ‘Kill The Real Girls’