A smidge over two years ago, I got to see The Offspring live for the first time, on a superb bill that included Simple Plan and Sum 41. The Gen-X punk rock icons must have found that kind of bill was a winning combination, as for their Supercharged tour, they brought along two more favorites of the Millenial crowd: Jimmy Eat World and New Found Glory. The result – a fantastically fun evening of nostalgic tunes (along with some new bangers thrown in for those like me who keep up with these bands).
I retain fond memories of spinning New Found Glory‘s self-titled album on repeat in my room while playing Final Fantasy 9 back in 2000. They were one of the first pop-punk bands I fell in love with, and going into this show, I realized I had never had the chance to watch a full NFG set. I had caught parts of their sets at Warped Tour ages ago, and most recently at When We Were Young, but somehow had never made it to a full show. As the band launched into “Understatement”, I was happy that drought was about to end. They followed this semi-deep cut with one of their best songs, the heavier “All Downhill From Here”. This one brought me back to my junior year of college, blasting the track on WinAmp from my desktop computer.
The band were fully aware of the short amount of time they had on stage, and were determined to make every moment count. They quickly went into their break-out single (and the track that first made me a fan), “Hit or Miss”. Frontman Jordan Pundik went into the crowd, joining those on the floor for jumping, high-fives and trading off vocals. It’s the kind of thing that makes this music and these bands still resonate: the sense of community. NFG remember where they’re from, and know how important it is to still make their fans feel like they are part of something.
With a new album on the way, the band played their latest single “100%”, a feel-good bop that evokes the kind of sing-along energy pop-punk is known for. While I personally would have chosen “Truth of My Youth” over their next Catalyst cut, “Failure’s Not Flattering”, they appeased my old-school fandom by adding in “Dressed to Kill” before closing out the set with a shout-out to missing band member Chad Gilbert (getting treatment for cancer, which we all hope he beats), and their smash “My Friends Over You”. Still an earworm two decades in.
I first heard Jimmy Eat World when “Bleed American” got added into rotation on KROQ. While I liked that track, it was of course hearing “The Middle” for the first time that converted me into a die-hard fan. I remember friends coming into my dorm room to just dance along to that song my Freshman year, as it started to take over the world. Two years later, the band played a surprise pop-up show in Santa Barbara, where I was front row to hear new tracks off their upcoming album Futures (still my favorite JEW album).
It had been too long since seeing the band live, so I was very excited to finally see them again. The first time I saw them had been at this very venue, when it was called the Great Western Forum, and the band opened for blink-182 and Green Day on the Pop Disaster Tour 23 years prior. Opening up with the hard-hitting “Pain”, the band were clearly out to make some of the older punk rock fans in the audience happy. “Just Tonight…” and “Let it Happen” followed, giving the crowds the two different sides of the band – the pop-leaning emo, and the heavier rock influenced side of the band.
I loved the block that came next: the beautiful “Work”, and the anthemic “Futures” (in-arguably the best guitar riff in JEW’s catalog). The hopefulness of this track always gets to me, and my head was banging in the audience. Jim Adkins’ voice still sounds pristine, and the band is overall a pitch perfect machine that executes a flawless show. The Clarity gem “Lucky Denver Mint” gave the real JEW fans in the audience a treat, before allowing for another circle pit to catch fire with “Bleed American”. I can say I was thrilled the band included their ode to big stadium rock, “Something Loud” in the set, as that song is a smash and should have conquered radio as much as any of their singles.
The band shared their gratitude to everyone in the room, knowing they were lucky to still be playing rooms like this decades into their career. Hinting at what was next, the band got everyone in the audience on their feet as they launched into their self-titled album’s big songs; “A Praise Chorus”, “Sweetness”, and of course, “The Middle”. For a fan like me, I could have enjoyed a 2 hour JEW show. There are songs from all of their albums, from Static Prevails to Surviving that I have never heard live and would love to one of these days. Here’s hoping the next time they come to L.A., it’s for a headlining show!
Just as JEW’s show ended, The Offspring‘s show countdown fun began. A mix of trivia, 8-bit music videos, and fun cams (my friend and I made it onto the headbang cam for a moment) kept the audience amused and built hype for the band’s eventual entrance. When that countdown finally ended, the band “came out to play”, smashing into their 90’s hit. The audience exploded, with a circle pit that would continue throughout the show. “All I Want” kept the energy going, before things went a little more pop with the endlessly catchy “Want You Bad”. The Offspring have been writing hits for four decades, so whichever era they choose to play from, they know they have a song that will please fans.
“Staring at the Sun” and “Original Prankster” had both been on the setlist for the 2023 show I saw, so “Make it All Right”, off their latest album Supercharged, was the first fresh song (for me) of the night. One of their most pop-leaning numbers, it has pure summer vibes, and could stand along side The Beach Boys on a playlist. With “Bad Habits”, the band again took a long banter break to build tension, have fun with cursing, and get the audience ready to shout-out the bridge with joyful abandon.
In 2023, the band’s foray into metal riffs was a fun diversion, but with the passing of Ozzy Osbourne, the band used this part of the setlist to pay tribute to the rock icon. Beginning with the “Sweet Leaf” riff, the band then played parts of “Paranoid” and a chunk of “Crazy Train”. This led easily into the band’s faithful cover of “In the Hall of the Mountain King.”
From the king of metal, the band transitioned to the kings of punk, with their cover of The Ramones‘ “I Wanna Be Sedated”. From this point, the show fell pretty much in line with the setlist from two years ago. After the classic “Gotta Get Away”, the band mined the great Americana for The Beatles-indebted “Get a Job”, the TRL-classic “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” (for which they brought up the original ‘white guy’ from the classic video to dance on stage), and then their billion-streamed “The Kids Aren’t Alright.”
It wasn’t hard to predict the encore, as they band had another billion-streamed track they hadn’t touched yet, “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid.” The energy and ferocity of that song still hits, and roiled up the crowd into a fervor, before closing out their set with “Self Esteem.” My friend next to me had never seen The Offspring live before, and for him, this was a perfect set. He was on cloud 9, so you know they did a good job. As I did two years ago, I would still say the band could cut some of the banter and antics down to fit in another song or two (cuts like “Can’t Repeat” and “Spare me the Details” would have been winners), but such is always the case for a long-time fan. You’ll never get all the songs you want, and I still had fun with the songs I got.
Catch the band as they continue to tour, and listen to their latest album Supercharged here.
The Indy Review 