Descendents, Circle Jerks @ Brooklyn Paramount, NYC, April 13, 2024

Descendents, Circle Jerks

Descendents, Circle Jerks @ Brooklyn Paramount, NYC, April 13, 2024,

April 26, 2024
By Matthew Berliand
Photo by Matthew Berlyant
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Headlining the last night of a tour with their 80's punk brothers the Circle Jerks and the Adolescents (who I arrived too late to properly comment on, only saw part of their set) Progeny just hit a sold-out crowd at the newly renovated Brooklyn Paramount (this was only the seventh show there since the restoration) with hit after hit, most of them coming from their incredible first four albums (1982 Milo goes to college represented very well in particular), but songs from 1996 Everything is crap2004 sleeps often Cool to Be Youand of 2016 Super coffee spazzinate were also played, feeling like the greatest hits a band had scored forty-five years into their career (thirty-eight years with the same lineup!) and perhaps only peaked as a live NOW band. In fact, they opened with “Feel This” and ended their twenty-nine-song main set with “Smile,” both songs from Spazzinate. It was a great joy to witness and listen. After a standing ovation, they returned for a four-song encore of the rarely played “Good Good Things” from their 1985 sophomore album I Don't Want To Grow Up) and the even less played “Global Probing” from their second single (and their first release with longtime singer Milo Aukerman. What a great set!

While the Circle Jerks set was enjoyable, it made me realize several things. The first is that I really prefer the songs Group sex (one of the best punk LPs of all time) to most of the rest of their catalog (even 1982 was fine, but not as strong a sequel Wild on the streets). That said, it was also exciting to hear songs from their 5th album, 1987's Ignored, and much different VI, played tonight too. As for most of the rest, again, I enjoyed it, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if they didn't play so many of their songs at such an unreasonably fast tempo. It just didn't quite fit. If they slowed each song down a bit, it would be an absolutely killer set.