Sum 41 to perform during farewell tour Saturday in Wichita
Tears came to Jason “Cone” McCaslin’s eyes when he walked offstage in Osaka in March as it hit him that Sum 41 would never again play in Japan.
That reaction, which he revealed on Instagram, says everything about the “Tour of the Setting Sum,” the final sojourn that will take the Canadian band around the world one last time before Sum 41 caps its 30-year career in January 2025.
The band will bring that tour to Wichita’s Wave Venue on Saturday for a 7 p.m. show that also features opening act The Interrupters.
“It’s kind of new territory for all of us,” McCaslin said of his reaction to playing final shows across Asia during an early April interview. “Some places are a little bit more emotional than others. Some places we’re doing on our farewell tour, we’ve only played maybe once before or not even once before. So it’s ‘We won’t come back to that place.’
“But we have a really deep history with Japan, he said. “We started going there in 2002, and I think we’ve been there at least 15 times. It’s one of my favorite places on earth. I just love it there. I love playing there. So that’s probably going to be one of the most emotional farewells that we’ve got.”
The end of Sum 41 was perpetuated by Derrick “Bizzy D” Whitley, the band’s singer, rhythm guitarist, primary songwriter and producer, who, in 1994 co-founded the group that became Sum 41 in the Toronto suburb of Ajax.
Whitley, the only member of the band from day one, had been entertaining the thought of calling it quits for a while, McCaslin said.
“He’s been having these kinds of feelings for years, I think he said since like 2018, going into our previous album,’ McCaslin said. “But as he says, he just tried to bury the feelings and just move on and keep going.
“Once we recorded this album, and we realized we have enough songs and we really want to do a double album, he sat back and listened to it and still had the feelings of, ‘I just don’t know how much longer I can do that,’” the bassist said. “It was really his decision that this is our last, that ‘I’m not going to move on with this band any more.’”
It make some sense, McCaslin said, for Sum 41 to end things with that double album, “Heaven :x: Hell,” a sprawling 20 song, 55-minute affair that sums up the music that the band has played through the decades, moving from punk pop to hardcore, metal, nu metal, thrash and back.
“The way our career has gone musically, you’ve got the heaven and hell thing,” McCaslin said. “‘Heaven’ is kind of like old school us. It sounds more like the stuff we were doing when we were teenagers into our early 20s. Then you’ve got ‘Hell,’ which is the heavier stuff we’ve been doing the past couple years as we got older... It’s our whole career summed up into one record.”
That career saw Sum 41, which took its unusual name from a live performances that the high schoolers played on the 41st day of summer vacation, start in the punk pop lane, hitting the charts with its platinum selling 2001 major label debut album “All Killer No Filler” and songs like “Fat Lip,” it’s biggest ever single.
“Heaven :X:Hell,” which was released in early April, became
Horror movie fans are eagerly awaiting the release this week of “Abigail,” which kicks off a string of horror releases over the next few months.
Here’s a look at what horror films are slashing their way towards us through the summer. (Release dates and titles are subject to change.)
“Abigail” — After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl. (Spoiler alert: She’s a vampire!)(Opening Friday, April 19)
“Alien” re-release —In celebration of the 45th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi/horror masterpiece, the film gets a re-release for a limited time. If you haven’t seen this on the big screen, now’s your chance (and I highly recommend it.) It follows the crew of a commercial spacecraft that encounters a deadly life-form after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin. You say the alien has acid for blood? No problem! (Opening April 26)
“Tarot” — A group of friends breaches the taboo of Tarot readings when they use another reader’s deck, releasing a supernatural evil that foretells the death of everyone involved. Maybe stick to playing Solitaire? (Opening May 3)
“Star Wars Ep. 1: The Phantom Menace” — OK, this isn’t actually a horror film, but it is pretty scary that this turd in the “Star Wars” franchise is getting re-released, but it is — for a limited run. The first film in the prequels that followed the original films, it was met with widespread disdain. As the worst character ever invented, Jar Jar Binks, might say, “Meesa no likey!” (Opening May 3)
“The Strangers: Chapter 1” — This is actually the third film in the horror/slasher franchise directed by Renny Harlin. It