The Offspring – Gig Review & Photo Gallery 24th November @ Forum, Melb VIC

The Offspring
Forum, Melbourne VIC
November 24, 2024
Support: Mixed Up Everything

For one night only Cal Punk legends The Offspring brought their arena style show to the small confines of The Forum in Melbourne. It was an exclusive Australian show as part of the Victorian state government’s Always Live initiative.

First up are YouTube sensation and local brothers Mixed Up Everything. Turns out there has been a grunge revival that I’ve missed. Between the crimped hair and wild stage presence, there’s fat riffs in the vein of Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. The four brothers who had just been touring Europe came back to open for The Offspring. Crowd was polite and into it but hardly going nuts. They broke into one of their punk numbers, which got a moderately better reception. The band seemed to be having a good time and were very slick with their musicianship – they’re a band who’ve gigged lots and gigged hard. When they asked if anyone had seen their YouTube channel, there was a smattering of cheers. They broke into ‘Forty Six and 2’ by Tool and that got some serious applause. Closer ‘Soak My Brain’ was a pretty epic tune that I’ve added to my streaming library. I don’t think I’d ever seen a drummer hand out drum sticks mid-song but they were having a ton of fun and the crowd came around.

The crowd was red hot from the open chords of ‘Come Out and Play’. It was loud and vocal with 40 year olds doing a middle aged version of a mosh. The energy kept up for ‘All I Want’ and a terrific singalong on ‘Want You Bad’. Noodles started thanking individuals in the front row before noting he started drinking at dinner time and was already having a great time. Dexter sounded terrific on ‘Staring at the Sun’, from Americana, and it went down a treat.

New songs ‘Make It Alright’ and ‘Light it Up’  were the right songs from new albums Supercharged to keep the crowd enthusiastic, even if it wasn’t the same as the classics. The banter between Dexter and Noodles is electric and kept things entertaining while they (and the crowd) caught their breath. Noting that Noodles rarely learns full songs, they proved it by playing the start of ‘Iron Man’ then ‘Sweet Child of Mind’ (not at all punk rock but arguably this is the audience who doesn’t care), before their instrumental cover of ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ into a fiery cover of The Ramone’s seminal anthem ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’.

From there it was back to the older songs and ‘Bad Habit’ went off. They stopped the song at the bridge to pump up the crowd some more and give us the chance to deliver THAT line with gusto. Melbourne roared as one.

Dexter grabbed his acoustic guitar and told the story behind ‘Spare Me the Details’. Smash’s ‘Gotta Get Away’ also got a rousing reception segueing into a drum solo.

It had all been very punk until they played ‘Why Don’t Get You a Job’, in which a Roadie in a gorilla mask came out to throw beach balls into the crowd. From there they went full arena mode for ‘Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)’ with wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men either side of the stage. They hammered through my fave song (and recent addition to the Spotify billion stream club), ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’, leaving the audience gasping for air as they left the stage.

The crowd was rapid for more. The band obliged with ‘You’re Gonna Go Far Kid’. Dexter referred to it as a “doozy” as the crowd showered the band with applause. They topped it off with 90s hit ‘Self Esteem’, one of the songs that no doubt started a lot of people’s fandom. Despite the serious subject matter of some songs, like the last two, the band and crowd had a ball. The lights came on and the picks were thrown to the audience but most people hardly moved. The guitar feedback faded as Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ hit the PA, giving punters one last chance at a singalong.

It took me thirty years to see The Offspring and I reckon I’ll be keen for their arena tour next year.

Review by KJ Draven (Twitter X and Instagram)

Setlist

Come Out and Play
All I Want
Want You Bad
Staring at the Sun
Make It All Right
Light It Up
Iron Man / Sweet Child o’ Mine / In the Hall of the Mountain King
Blitzkrieg Bop (Ramones cover)
Bad Habit
Spare Me the Details
Gotta Get Away
Why Don’t You Get a Job?
Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)
The Kids Aren’t Alright

Encore

You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid
Self Esteem

Photo Gallery by Clinton Hatfield. Insta: @ampd.agency.
Please credit Wall of Sound and Clinton Hatfield if you repost photos.

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