“It’s like electric, you know? Like electricity,”

The lead guitarist of the Offspring, Noodles (formally known as Kevin Wasserman), said to the audience. And he couldn’t have been more right.​

The band entered the stage around 8:20 in the evening, going straight to their mics without saying a word to the audience. Silence flooded the venue as we waited for something to be said by the band. Then they strummed the chords to their hit song, “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid,” and the crowd went crazy. Almost everyone immediately sprung to their feet, belting each lyric in sync with Dexter Holland, the lead singer. I’ve personally never witnessed a band lead with their top song and it was such an amazing way to start the show.

Holland’s vocals never left pitch, Noodles’ mastery guitar skills made me think the air guitar in my hands was real, and Pete Parada’s drumming inspires me to drop my next paycheck on a drum set. Along with Gregory Kriesel’s amazing bass performance, the show put on by them could convince anyone to go home and start their own garage band.

However, watching the people around me was just as entertaining. They made it impossible not to dance, their energy radiating good vibes. I observed a lady who made her way from five feet behind me to three feet in front of me within thirty minutes. A group of about six people, not too far from me, decided it would be a good idea to try to start a mosh pit. They proceeded to crash into each other like mentally ill patients in straight jackets who hadn’t had human contact in years, I was laughing almost as hard as they were smashing into each other. I can’t leave out the man who wore a deep red shirt and a kilt, his face painted as a skull, and was just running around the venue starting conversation with anyone he laid eyes on. Not to mention the strong aroma of what I’m just going to classify as skunk, which almost every person carried around with them. This audience was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. And I loved it.

The Offspring has been coming out with music and touring since 1984 and they know how to keep their following. There’s no better thing to say to an audience than, “you’re the sexiest audience we’ve been too all year!”Which was yelled into the mic by Noodles, causing a wild, loud, eccentric response from the crowd.

Sadly, Sublime with Rome did not impress as much as the Offspring. They began their set with “Wrong Way,” and at first, I was pumped. Then slowly with each song, it stopped sounding like Sublime songs and just turned to a mash of jumbled words with the occasional, “Alright Houston, Texas!!” By occasional, I mean twice in each song.

After comparing the new singers to Bradley Nowell, there’s no competition, there is just no replacement. I’m not saying the new singer sounded like trash, he can sing, just preferably not Sublime’s music. Of course, this is an opinion and I’m sure there are plenty of others who thoroughly enjoyed it.

Overall, the concert was a huge success and I’ve been jamming to the Offspring since I left the performance.