When all is said and done,  Sum 41 will probably go down as one of the best and baddest punk rock bands to ever take the stage.  Wednesday's performance in the intimate Cambridge Room at the Dallas House of Blues was no exception, and highlighted why this year's No Personal Space Tour may go down as one of their best in years!

Where do I begin? Arriving at the venue, I was a little confused because the Cambridge Room at the Dallas House of Blues was so small. Almost a year ago to the day, Sum 41 sold out the big room and it was such a wild show. It took me a minute but then I remembered the name of the tour, No Personal Space.   Everything made sense again and I was pretty stoked to be right up in front of the action. During one of the song breaks, Deryck Whibley made a comment about wanting to play shows like they did when they first started.  From the looks of this show, they sure meant it.  Let’s dive in...

The opening act, Assuming We Survive, is a band I have seen probably three or four times and they always put on a great show. They are exciting from a photo perspective because the lead singer, Adrian Estrella, likes to interact with the photographers. Their energy was super high, and the crowd seemed to really be digging it. The one song that I always notice when watching them perform is “Make It Out Alive”, because of those sick melodies in Adrian’s voice and the lead guitar. This tour could mean big things for AWS because they have a lot of talent in that band and I suspect they will make some big waves in the industry soon.

Following AWS was the highly anticipated rock stars from Ontario Canada, Sum 41, and they definitely made you wait for it. Lights went dim, some rock hits started playing, and the stage lights started doing their thing. What felt like forever finally came to an end and one-by-one they started flooding on to stage. Last but not least, Deryck Whibley walks out on stage and immediately goes into “No Reason” and immediately got the crowd on their feet. “Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!” screamed the crowd, and at that point I knew this was going to be a great show. The late 90s rock band came out and shut it down with each and every song. Of course they had to play one of their newest tracks, “Out For Blood” and it went hard. It’s so impressive how after all the hits they put out, they can still make a solid rock song. And the way Dave Baksh hits the solo towards the end of the song was such a surprise but such a great addition to a fantastic song.

Sum 41 continued to put on a great show and then they surprised the audience with a first ever performance of “Jessica Kill”. The fast-paced tune got the audience amped up. They also covered Pink Floyd's “Another Brick in The Wall” intro to “Fake My Own Death” and that was pretty killer. Outside of the encore, I think my favorite moment of the show was when Deryck slowed it down and played “With Me” acoustically. You could feel the energy in the small room, and I think that is what music is all about. They went on to play even more classic hits like, “In Too Deep”,  “Still Waiting”, and encored with “Fat Lip”.

Overall this is a show you don’t want to miss when it comes to a city near you. Sum 41 will go down as one of the greats and there is something to say about their talent and live performances.  As always, rock on my friends!