On July 21, punk rock veterans the Descendents stopped by The Depot in Salt Lake City on their Hypercaffium Spazzinate Tour. They were supported by The Bronx and locals Endless Struggle. I was able to catch the Descendents at a sold-out show last year in D.C. and was excited to see them play again in Salt Lake City.
The crowd started to fill the venue as Salt Lake City’s own Endless Struggle opened the night. Endless Struggle set the tone for the show with their fast-paced street punk songs. The Bronx followed up with an equally energetic set. The Bronx’s frontman, Matt Caughthran, had the crowd’s attention. Caughthran jumped into the crowd mid-set and performed the remainder of the The Bronx’s songs from the center of the circle pit. The crowd would often gather around Caughthran and sing along with him.
The Descendents ended the night with songs from their entire catalog. They started off with “Everything Sux,” followed by “Hope,” “Rotting Out” and “On Paper.” The Descendents still have it, and the band played song after song. The group has been supporting their latest release, Hypercaffium Spazzinate, and played a couple of songs off their new album as well as all of their hits from their previous releases. Near the end of their set, the drummer, Bill Stevenson, explained how Salt Lake City was important to the band because both Stephen Egerton and Karl Alvarez were from Salt Lake City. The band played 30-plus songs throughout the night to the crowd, which comprised both younger and older fans. The Descendents were able to bring their influence to Salt Lake City for the evening and even had a limited-run shirt of the Descendents’ Milo Aukerman dressed up as Angel Moroni.
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Endless Struggle opened up the show for the night. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros Endless Struggle’s frontman had the crowd’s attention. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros Maddie, Jackson and Jacob were excited to see the Descendents. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros Max and Dean were up in the front waiting for the Bronx to start their set. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros David and Daniel waiting for the Descendents’ set. Photo Gilbert Cisneros Lillie and Andrew at the front of the stage during The Bronx’s set. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros The Bronx had crowd involvement from the start of their set. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros Ken Horne on guitar for The Bronx. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros Matt Caughthran on vocals for The Bronx. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros The Bronx gave the show a direction to the set. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros Brad Magers was on bass for The Bronx. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros Matt Caughthran had lots of energy thoughout the set. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros David Hidalgo Jr. on drums for the Bronx. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros Joby J. Ford on guitar for The Bronx. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros The Bronx’s frontman performed half of their set from the middle of the circle pit. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros The Bronx had crowd participation down throughout their set. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros Matt Caughthran in the crowd. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros Brandon and Mellisa were checking out the march booth before the Descendents set. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros Hannah and Nick were excited for the Descendents to start. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros Milo Aukerman on vocals for the Descendents. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros Karl Alvarez on bass for the Descendents. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros Stephen Egerton on guitar for the Descendents. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros The crowd’s excitement was felt throughout the Descendents set. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros The Descendents played songs from their large catalog. Photo: Gilbert Cisneros