Pennywise’s Fierceness Gains Strength From a Chaotic Pit

Compared to such radio-ready punks as Green Day and the Offspring, the members of Pennywise seem happy to be punk anti-stars.

Thrashing through a sold-out show at the Palace on Wednesday, the Hermosa Beach quartet delivered an abrasive, out-of-control, hard-core fan set. Combining buckshot aggression with underclass anthems and anti-drug abuse messages, the outfit delivered old songs alongside numbers from its fourth album, “Full Circle.”

A large group of fans circled the band on stage throughout the set, and an active mosh pit writhed as Pennywise stormed through the warlike “Fight Till You Die” and a stormy rendition of an old Misfits tune. The band members seemed to gather steam from the chaos brewing around them as fans leaped into the audience from speaker towers and singer Jim Lindberg angrily confronted security officers and pulled fans onstage.

The tone quickly became somber, however, when he dedicated songs to friends who have recently died: overdose victim Brad Nowell of the Sublime and Pennywise’s founding bassist Jason Thirsk, who committed suicide last year.

But overall, it was a loud, fierce show that would have carried more punch if it had been abbreviated. And it underscored that Pennywise’s rough, uncut punk may be simply too radical and serious for the kind of mainstream success enjoyed by its old Epitaph Records label mates, the Offspring. But that’s probably just fine for this band, whose heart seems staunchly devoted to its hometown, working-class beach scene.

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* Pennywise plays Wednesday at the San Bernardino Arena, 137 G St., San Bernardino, 7 p.m. $13.50. (909) 715-2252.