The Offspring
July 11, 2014
Pacific Amphitheater- Orange County, CA
It has been twenty years since Huntington Beach’s, The Offspring released their album, Smash. Regarded by music critics as one of the most influential punk rock albums of all time, Smash went on to be one of the most commercially successful punk rock albums released in 1994 and has gone onto sell a reported 20 million records worldwide since its release.
The Offspring brought their Smash: 20th Anniversary Tour to the opening night of the Orange County Fair Pacific Amphitheater summer Concert Series on Friday. The sold-out amphitheater brought out a diverse crowd of fans spanning kids, teens, Gen-Xers and many more who were treated to a 70-minute performance of the Smash classics by singer, Dexter Holland and company.
Just as the house lights went down, the crowd erupted as the intro track, Time to Relax echoed through-out the speakers before going directly into Nitro (Youth Energy). The energy only increased by the minutes as the infamous and now radio friendly track, Bad Habit brought many, including this writer back to the very first time where we heard foul language in a song and tried our best not to shout the lyrics to the parents displeasure.
A three guitar attack during Gotta Get Away saw a now rare Dexter Holland behind his guitar, along with Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman and their touring guitarist. Self Esteem closed out the initial performance that had the audience signing along with Holland, prior to the band briefly exiting the stage while Intermission entertained the crowd.
Even though it was an evening to celebrate Smash, The Offspring made sure to include several hits including Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) and the closer The Kids Aren’t Alright. Whether you are a fan of old or new, it was obvious that The Offspring can still produce solid hits and deliver them live.
The Adolescents opened the night with a 30-minute performance that was politically fueled. Prior to the band walking out on stage, vocalist Tony Cadena joined Ron Thomas, father of Kelly Thomas in a brief message to the crowd. Propaganda, politics and police brutality was the theme of the performance from the very beginning that included signs directed towards police officer Ramos through-out the stage and fans on-stage holding up posters against Monsanto.
Review by: Robert Fayette
The Offspring
The Adolescents
