Descendents at Playstation Theater
photo by Rafe Baron

Descendents rocked NYC, covered Black Flag with Dez Cadena (review, pics, videos, setlist)

Descendents are responsible for influencing most of what you’d consider modern pop punk, with many fans of the band’s early days going on to start their own bands, inspired by their blend of tongue-in-cheek lyrical content, catchy hooks, and hardcore tempos. As Descendents’ influence continues to endure, the band have continued to attract new, younger fans over the years, which is a good explanation for the turnout of diverse age groups at their show at NYC’s Playstation Theater on Friday (10/26). Throughout the night, older fans who have presumably stuck with the band since the beginning were screaming, moshing, and headbanging along with fans of a younger generation, which made for an uplifting live experience.

The band treated the hyper audience to a 37-track, career-spanning setlist with tons of their most classic tracks, including “Suburban Home” (which kicked off their set), “I’m The One,” “Everything Sux,” “Rotting Out,” “Silly Girl,” “When I Get Old,” and lots more. They also brought out a few highlights from 2016’s excellent, infectious Hypercaffium Spazzinate, with songs like “Without Love” and “Smile” fitting perfectly alongside the band’s more iconic material.

Before the band launched into the angry protest song “Merican,” singer Milo Aukerman called the audience to action by urging them to vote in the November midterms, referencing the nationwide, politically-motivated bomb scares happening earlier in the day: “People are sending bombs, so we need to change course. Vote ’em out! That’s what Willie Nelson said.” Milo also jokingly referenced controversial alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos, saying “He ruined the name for the rest of us Milos!”

Before the show drew to a close, Milo told the audience that the previous song “Spineless and Scarlet Red” made him slightly lose his voice, after which the band invited former Black Flag member Dez Cadena — who plays in Black Flag offshoot FLAG with current Descendents members Bill Stevenson and Stephen Egerton — on stage to perform a cover of Black Flag’s “Jealous Again.” It ended with Milo and Dez both screaming the lyrics, capping off an already wild, exciting night.

Descendents’ set was preceded by performances from Lillingtons offshoot Teenage Bottlerocket and reunited NYC pop punks Ruth Ruth, both of whom fit the bill perfectly (and both of whom were surely influenced by the Descendents). We have pictures of the show coming very soon. UPDATE: Check out pictures in the gallery above, and a few videos and Descendents’ setlist below…

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpceftuh5ub/?taken-at=48359

Setlist – Descendents @ Playstation Theater 10/26/18
Suburban Home
Everything Sucks
Hope
On Paper
I Wanna Be a Bear
Rotting Out
Victim of Me
Get the Time
I Like Food
Shameless Halo
My Dad Sucks
Clean Sheets
Testosterone
Van
Feel This
Nothing With You
I’m Not a Punk
Silly Girl
I Don’t Want to Grow Up
Who We Are
Weinerschnitzel
Myage
Without Love
Global Probing
Coffee Mug
When I Get Old
Coolidge
Thank You
Descendents

ENCORE
‘Merican
I’m the One
Bikeage
Smile

ENCORE 2
Good Good Things
Hey Hey
Spineless and Scarlet Red
Jealous Again (Black Flag cover with Dez Cadena)

photos by Rafe Baron