Punk’s Not Only Fun

Pennywise, Propagandhi, Comeback Kid, The Iron Roses, Dead Pioneers

Reconstruction Tour presented by Destiny Tourbooking at Arena Wien – Open Air, Austria 20250521

Small club shows in underground venues are fantastic. Still, open air concerts have an own charm. Especially at Arena, where you can either place yourself on the balcony, somewhere around the main standing area or right down in the pit in front of the stage. 

So this open air setting is just right for the Reconstruction Tour presented by Destiny Tourbooking. The poster reminds of Michael Hackers style and is by Joel Abad from Manresa (Punk in the Park, Punk in Drublic, SlamDunk Festival and more). In two cities, Madball and Wizo join, but this evening belongs to the five main protagonists. 

Luckily, a honest fan sells a ticket right before the venue, where songs from Black Flag, Bad Religion and The Interrupters come from the speakers. The first glance on stage reveals the logo of the Dead Pioneers: a burning wagon with a skull on it arrows in the wheel. 

„Sometimes they have to kill us […] because they can’t break our spirit.“, they start with the quote from „Thunderheart“. With two Native American members, they introduce themselves in their own language. Spoken word parts even make think of Body Count like the lyrics in e.g. „Bad Indian“. 

The Iron Roses are up next, drummer Devon Hunt opens and closes their set. As queer band, they position themselves against the patriarchy and transport a positive message with several voices and songs like „No Way“. Then Comeback Kid took the seat in the middle of the line-up going all Hardcore and celebrating 20 years of „Wake the Dead“. 

To motivate the audience, singer Andre Neufeld gets down from the stage as he thinks „we are too far“. Propagandhi then continue with some Crossover Metal flavor, presenting their new album „At Peace“ (Epitaph Records). So time passes by quickly, and there goes the headliner: 

Pennywise who supported Dropkick Murphys at Stadthalle, at some point go back thirty years in their discography and remember the Deconstruction tour and NOFX. For „Society“, they have a screaming battle, and „Stand by Me“, „Pennywise“ and „Bro Hymn“ build the trinity at the end with fans on stage. 

Natascha Zachs, Andreas Graf and Michael Fasching documented the wonderful evening, and the next Open Airs feature likes of Madsen with Baits, Terror, Speck, King Diamond and more…