This evening’s conclusion of Rockville’s second stage headline set is a more conventional, albeit still glefully helter-skelter, affair. UK fans who caught last year’s landmark Slam Dunk headline shows will have a fair idea of what Jeremy and the boys throw at a show like this. They toss out lashings of confetti, eyebrow-scorching pyro, reams of ticker-tape that could blot out the sun, and enough dudes with T-shirt cannons to to trigger PTSD in fans of Maude Flanders. But it’s how the music reflects that maximalist attitude that makes them perfect for festivals like this – in Florida or anywhere else.
From the timeless sing-along aggro of The Downfall Of Us All to the endlessly swaggering defiance of I’m Made Of Wax Larry, What Are You Made Of?, the unhinged brutalism of 2nd Sucks to a melody-drenched cover of Marshmello’s Rescue Me, they’re overflowing with syrupy moments to put shit-eating grins on fans faces and bloody-nosed breakdowns to wipe them right back off again.
A glorious Have Faith In Me is dedicated to all the maternal figures in attendance on American Mother’s Day before Jezza gets the audience to illuminate the storm-swept site one last time on If It Means A Lot To You. “If you’ve got a lighter or a cellphone, put it in the air for this one, because it makes us feel a whole lot cooler about ourselves!” As if more affirmation is needed.