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The Offspring Come Out and Play at Roseland Ballroom
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Guitarist Noodles rocks out at Roseland Ballroom
It was a flashback to the glory day of the 1990’s as California punk metallers The Offspring packed a full house at Roseland Ballroom. With support from Canada’s Sum 41, thousands of kids jumped, screamed, and moshed for an overdriven show that brought out almost every radio hit, and then some.
Punk music, especially the variety espoused by metal-ish acts such as Sum 41 and The Offspring, tends to be rebellious, youth-oriented music, which makes for some odd contrasts when the band has been around for a decade or two. Nonetheless, Sum 41’s married, 29 year old vocalist Deryck spent virtually every minute on stage acting like a snotty teenage brat, sniping at the crowd and pulling random people from the crowd up on stage.
The band had a noticeable group of loyal fans in the crowd, jumping around to the pop punk fare, and happily following Deryck’s orders to sing along and scream out obscenities. By the time the band closed with their breakout hit, rap-metal anthem Fat Lip, the venue was packed and the crowd was screaming along.
It was a quick half hour until the lights dimmed, and The Offspring took the stage. The platinum-selling group has released eight studio albums, but the night’s setlist was built almost exclusively around megahit albums Smash and Americana. The band wasted no time blasting into their first song, and the energy surged through the crowd, with waves of bodies crashing in all directions even well away from the roiling mosh pits.
The group participation was enthusiastic from start to finish, especially on crowd favorites such as Bad Habit, with fans screaming out the profanity-laden ‘Tourette’s Syndrome’ road rage breakdown. Similarly, the crowd’s roar of “You gotta keep ‘em separated!” drowned out singer Dexter’s vocals on Come Out and Play.
See my video of Come Out And Play, shot live in the mosh pit
The inclusion of a piano break for Gone Away drew some boos from the guitar riff-loving audience, especially for a band who made their name not on musical innovation, but rather innovative use of singing “Whooooaaaaoooo,” but it turned out to be a much-needed respite for the overheated fans crammed together on the sweaty floor.
After the melodic break, the group got right back into the swing of things with more heavy, guitar-driven favorites such as Americana and Pretty Fly (For a White Guy), and radio hits like The Kid’s Aren’t Alright. The energy in the crowd never died down for a second, with crowd surfers appearing from all directions, and hard-hitting mosh pits spontaniously breaking out. After one more quick break, the 20 year-old band encored with their biggest hit, the doomed-relationship song Self Esteem, to roaring applause.
Over the 20+ year career of the band, the Offspring have gone from underground sensations to MTV rock gods, and recently have faded back into obscurity, with newer albums generating interest but not many sales. However, last night’s performance proved that not only is the group as tight and intense as ever, but their songs still have the mass appeal that dominated a decade of radio waves, and will no doubt be on playlists and iPods for a long time to come.
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