Westminster, Colorado
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Concert Review: The Offspring blast through 18 years of music at The Fillmore Auditorium in Denver
Posted on October 1, 2012
by Tom Walsh
The Offspring have been around just about forever, have recorded numerous albums, been on movie and game soundtracks and have even had a cameo in a movie. They also have the distinction of being the highest selling punk band to release an album on an independent label for their multi-platinum album “Smash” which sold about 16 million copies. They also still put on one hell of a live show.
Seeing The Offspring live is like being hit by a rocket fueled steamroller. Once they start they blast through so many songs so fast it makes your head spin and you might find yourself thinking, “Holy shit, they’re gonna be done with their set in like twenty minutes!” But The Offspring has plenty of material to fall back on so you just keep getting crushed by wave after wave of hard, driving guitar, thumping bass, double time drums and Dexter’s signature voice.
Opening their set with “Hurting As One” The Offspring
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barreled through four songs without a break or a breath before finally taking a moment to talk to the crowd. Dexter and Noodles are both likeable enough guys on stage but they are not known for their small talk, they are known for kicking your ass relentlessly with some serious driving music. To some they may come off as rude or uncaring but they have a ton of songs to smack you over the head with and they can’t possibly play them all in the correct amount of time if they’re flappin’ their jaws. In fact the longest conversation of the night centered on the “erection” Noodles got because of the killer crowd response.
The crowd was what you would expect from an Offspring show. There was a mix of young and older fans all rockin’ out together. The people that didn’t want to hang out on the floor stayed in the balconies and on the sides. The floor was one big mass of bodies jumping up and down, fists pumping in the air, with an almost constant mosh pit swirling in the middle of the crowd. The only time the mosh pit slowed to a stop was when Dexter started playing a stripped down version of “Gone Away”. At the beginning of the song the crowd was fairly quiet but then erupted into cheers and applause when Emily Armstrong from Dead Sarah joined him on stage. Dexter may be a punk rock singer…… but he can sing, and the harmonizing between him and Emily was incredible. Of course this was the one and only moment during the whole show where proper concert etiquette dictates you hold a lighter or cell phone in the air and most of the crowd did just that.
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Once The Offspring was done with “Gone Away” it was back to business as usual and at the moment that business was putting the Fillmore on its ass. The rest of the set consisted of a killer mix of new and old material. The older material was definitely much rawer than the newer stuff because later in their career The Offspring started experimenting with samples and other means of recording and enhancement in the studio.
On the older stuff Noodles raw, messy guitar work was prevalent. He may be getting older but he still gets into his music so much I don’t think he cares what people think of his playing. He was hard on those guitar strings, playing messy, sometimes sloppy ass guitar, missing notes once in a while and hitting extra notes that didn’t belong………and it was beautiful.
This was The Offspring live! It was powerful, messy, catchy gut punching punk and rock. It was a fuck you, no excuses, no remorse, this is us, take it or leave it kind of show and everyone in the room chose to take it. I’ve been to shows where bands can get you pumped but this was friggin’ ridiculous.
The “whoas”, “ahs” and “yeahs” were in all the right places and on the older stuff and I’m glad to see some of the newer songs implementing this old school Offspring sound as well. “Slim Pickens” almost sounded like the Offspring I started listening to over 20 years ago with the nice raw guitar, the “yeahs” and the simple three chord progression. Oh, and you can’t forget the lyrics that everyone in the room was singing…..”Dance fucker dance let the motherfucker burn”! Yep, it was a spectacular fucking show!
“Pretty Fly” also had the whole crowd going apeshit and showed that age has not dampened Dexter’s vocals one bit as he sang the “Uh huh, uh huh” parts in that high, screechy, scratchy voice. He nailed that part and I have to admit I
was really surprised he could still get his voice that high. After “Pretty Fly” there was only one song left in the set and that song was “The Kids Aren’t All Right”.
Really???? “The Kid’s Aren’t All Right” for ending the set? I mean it’s a good song but not a finishing song. After they got done with the tune Dexter and Noodles both said thank you and walked of stage. Well, since the house lights didn’t come on right away I knew we were in for at least a few more songs, and the song I had been waiting for them to play all night had to be among the encore songs.
It took no time for the guys to come running back out on stage for the encore. They blasted through “Americana” and “Can’t Get My Head Around You” before they lit into “Self Esteem”. This is the song that I, and it seemed everyone else, had been waiting for all night. Self Esteem was pulled off perfectly without a hitch and had everyone rocking and singing along through the entire song.
Now that was a great ending to a killer show!
The Offspring might be getting older but they are in no way mellowing. They still put on a great show and sound like they did over 20 years ago which is no small feat. Their live show is for new and loyal, longtime fans alike. There is not a boring moment to the set and although they don’t go all the way back to songs like “Jennifer Lost The War” and “Session” they do knock out a nice mix of songs from “Smash” all the way through “Days Go By”.
If you own any Offspring albums from 1993 to 2012 you have to go see these guys live. Believe me you will have a new outlook and appreciation for the band known as The Offspring.
Best songs of the night: “Come Out and Play”, “Spare Me The Details”, “Gone Away”, “Slim Pickens” and “Self Esteem”
For more information on The Offspring please visit:
Click HERE to check out The Offspring's new album 'Days Go By' on itunes.
Photos from the show
All Photos Copyright © 2012 Interstatelive.com
The Offspring
The Offspring on stage at the Fillmore Auditorium. Photo by Paul Edmisson
Dexter Holland of The Offspring. Photo by Paul Edmisson
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