It’s the end of January - how is your New Year’s Resolution coming along? Mine was to see more live music, which landed me on the floor of CN Centre on January 27, shoulder to shoulder with a crowd ready to scream along to The Offspring and Bad Religion.
I’ll be honest: I haven’t really listened to punk in years. But during my formative teenage years, Warped Tour was the highlight of my year and its lineup the foundation of my musical education. I caught Bad Religion when they came to Calgary in ‘09, so I thought I was more familiar with them than the headliners. Luckily, I had a few days to re-acquaint myself with The Offspring’s discography and realize that I knew a lot of their music (and it rocks).
Making my way to the floor during Bad Religion’s opening chords, suddenly I felt fifteen again: a little anxious about the future, trying to figure out the world, and losing myself in driving music and anonymity of a surging crowd. But maybe it's not just nostalgia. Punk has always been political, so indulge me for a moment: in a time when the geopolitical climate feels unstable, rage-inducing, and disorienting, I'm once again anxious about the future and confused about the world. Getting lost in punk music and that anonymous, pulsing crowd felt really good. Turns out, it might be time to listen to punk again.
Bad Religion’s opening set brought me back
There is one important difference from my teenage self, though: I remembered earplugs (but not enough, unfortunately, for the three separate people I overheard wishing they’d brought some).
The stage was set for a goofy and engaging concert from the intermission. I’d barely call it an intermission - I didn’t want to leave and miss any of the action. There was an inflatable blimp floating overhead, filming the audience and dropping packs of guitar picks; a gorilla shooting t-shirts off the stage; and a suite of silly moments on the crowd camera.
The Offspring entered the stage to an enthusiastic countdown from the audience and an explosive rendition of “Come Out and Play”. I was flying solo, but it wasn’t hard to find a clump of friendly and enthusiastic fans who were as excited to dance and sing-along as I was. The crowd was a pretty diverse cross-section of ages, ranging from elder punks to pre-teens (who were THRILLED by the many opportunities to scream curse words over the course of the concert). The dynamic show offered constant surprises and delights - even beyond the memorable musical performance. (The XL beach balls flooding the crowd during “Why Don’t You Get a Job” and the Wacky Waving Inflatable Tube Guys during “Pretty Fly For a White Guy” were particular favourites of mine).
Despite the prevalence of props, some of the most special moments were the stripped down ones: The banter between Dexter and Noodles was fun and natural - you could tell they’ve been playing together for a long time. A white grand piano rolled out for “Gone Away,” accompanied by a sea of phone lights offering a collective tribute to those no longer here, packed an emotional punch.
Another sign I am no longer 15: for the last few years I have no patience for encores - I’m sleepy okay?! But when The Offspring left the stage, I surprised myself by enthusiastically chanting for one more song and dancing just as hard when they closed with their (actual) last song “Self-Esteem.”
As I enter the depths of the winter semester, The Offspring concert was the perfect study break. If lead singer, Dr. Dexter Holland, can get a PhD in Molecular Biology while also selling out the CN Centre... I guess I can finish my master’s.