Wednesday night at the Eatons Hill Hotel marked a moment in time which will be remembered by punk rock fans for many years.
The Descendents, forefathers of the skate punk scene, kicked off their four-show Australian tour, supported by The Bouncing Souls, Bodyjar and local band The Disables.
The Disables started the night, playing to an expectedly small crowd, being 7pm on a weekday. Bodyjar played next. By now the crowd was reflective of a punk rock show and surprisingly they had quite an impressive fan base under the roof — unfortunately their lackluster performance impressed only the die-hards in the front row. The hits were all there - 'Not The Same' and 'One In A Million' got the crowd singing along, but there was just something about them that failed to hit the mark.
The Bouncing Souls were next on the bill, and charismatic frontman Greg Attonito swaggered around on stage with a huge grin on his face the entire time. 26 years together and these guys are still going strong, and witnessing them live it is obvious that each of them absolutely love what they do. The tight sound they produce is near flawless. The perfect recipe for a great show.
The Descendents... holy crap.
For myself and everyone else in that room, this was a show that had been in the making since their first ever Australian tour in 2010 that ended after four songs when singer Milo Auckerman’s voice decided to retire early. This time around there were no such issues, and the Californian quartet more than made up for last time by beating our heads in for an intense hour with their trademark sound. 
Milo Aukerman just turned 50 — most people are thinking of retirement at 50, but this guy had more stage presence than most bands I have encountered, both young and old. There is something awkwardly humorous about watching four guys in their 50s singing songs like 'I Don’t Wanna Grow Up' and 'I’m Not A Loser', but when you’ve got as much energy culminating on stage as these guys, those songs become timeless classics.
