Admittedly, it's been quite some time since I last really listened to The Offspring. But when offered tickets to the Vancouver stop in their Supercharged Tour, I knew if I passed, my 12 year old self would be furious as Smash was a seminal album for me.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get to Rogers Arena in time for Bad Religion, arriving as the intermission shenanigans were happening; a small Offspring blimp circling the crowd, as well as the video screen showing various spotlights for the crowd, like kiss cam, headbang cam, and booty cam.

But soon a countdown appeared in screen and “Thunderstruck” blast over the speakers, before The Offspring hit the stage, Dr. Dexter Holland and Noodles joined by Todd Morse on bass, drummer Brandon Pertzborn, and Jonah Nimoy on “everything”. They burst out of the gates with iconic riff of “Come Out and Play”, followed by the crazy “All I Want” and the tantalizing “Want You Bad”.

The stage included giant video board that alternated between showing the band and animated clips, as well as some ‘guests’ like giant, smoke breathing inflatable skeletons, as the punk band’s set weaved though their expansive career, from “Looking Out for #1” off their latest album Supercharged, back to Smash with “Bad Habit”, which had the entire arena joining in (especially on that verse).

Dexter and Noodles seemed to have tons of fun, and they joked with the crowd and each other, and slipped in a few covers with a Black Sabbath medley to honour Ozzy, as well as a bit of Ramones with “I Wanna Be Sedated”, and Noodles shredding the classic “In the Hall of the Mountain King”

Later in the set, a piano was brought out as Dexter played the heartfelt “Gone Away”, getting everyone to hold up a light for someone they lost, and then one last cover for the night in “Hey Jude”. The singing along continued with a couple more fun songs, “Why Don't You Get a Job?” and “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)”, the former saw giant beach balls distributed through the crowd and the latter featured dancers in the iconic outfit, both human and wacky waving inflatable ones.

They wrapped up the main set with “The Kids Aren't Alright”, but were quickly back for a couple more, first “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid”, and then one last chance for everyone to yell along with another classic favourite, “Self Esteem”.

I feel like there is always a risk when seeing an act you have such fond memories of, and I did have a quick shock & realisation of “oh, right, Dexter’s vocals aren’t going to be exactly as they were 30 years ago”. But The Offspring still rocks as hard as ever and I was immediately transported back with an incredibly fun show full of songs I still somehow remembered all the words to.

setlist
Come Out and Play
All I Want
Want You Bad
Looking Out for #1
Staring at the Sun
Hit That
Original prankster
Hammerhead
Make It All Right
Bad Habit
Electric Funeral / Paranoid / Crazy Train [Black Sabbath medley]
In the Hall of the Mountain King [Edvard Grieg cover]
I Wanna Be Sedated [The Ramones cover]
Gotta Get Away
Gone Away
Hey Jude [The Beatles cover]
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