UTG PHOTOS: Pennywise Tear Up Seattle’s Showbox (4/29/14)

May 26th, 2014

Xander Deccio

Under The Gun sent photographer, Xander Deccio, to The Showbox in Seattle, WA to photograph punk favorites Pennywise on April 29, 2014.

In what could be described as pure mayhem, legendary SoCal punk group Pennywise made their grand triumphant return to Seattle’s Showbox. The band is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary together, and also marking the return of vocalist Jim Lindberg to the group.

A few years ago, Lindberg decided to leave the band to perform with his side project The Black Pacific, as he felt that he had nothing left to contribute to Pennywise. Instead of calling it quits like most bands do, Pennywise brought on former Ignite vocalist Zoli Téglás, and recorded their 10th studio album All Or Nothing, which also marked their return to Epitaph Records.

However, things did not pan out with Téglás as expected. Fans were not keen on him as lead singer and to make matters worse, he injured his back while on tour, needing emergency surgery to correct the problem. This paved the way for Lindberg to make his triumphant return to Pennywise.

Wyoming-based punk group Teenage Bottlerocket opened things up and got the crowd into a crazy stupor. Although not being familiar with TB, I must say I really dug their energy and stage antics. They kind of reminded me Black Flag in a way.

At 9:05 PM, Pennywise took to the stage, and the crowd went nuts! For a band that’s been around for over 20 years, they sure didn’t act like it. Instead, they had the energy and passion of 20-year-old kids. Lindberg even took time to interact with the crowd and also the photographers in the pit.

Overall, it was great to finally see Jim back with Pennywise. The last time I saw Pennywise was at The Gorge Amphitheater during Warped Tour in 2007. Of course I wasn’t shooting concerts at that time, but after seeing them and Pepper live, that’s what fueled my passion to start shooting shows. At least this time around I didn’t have to worry about getting doused with Rockstar Energy Drink from some kid. Let’s hope Pennywise release a new album in the near future as it’s been way too long.

Click the photos to see them full-size.