Crawfish & Noodles

It took me several years, but I finally got to see The Offspring live last Friday, May 15, for the first time ever. This was the first concert of the Shit is Fucked Up Tour, their first tour in four years, so it was a very special occasion. They were the last act of the Merrell Crawfish Boil Festival in Nashville, TN, and I am very happy I drove the two and a half hours it took me to get there to see them play. It was so much fun!

The weather was iffy at best, and it actually rained on and off for an hour and a half or so, which was pretty crappy, seeing as this was an outdoors concert. Unfortunately for them, Here Come the Mummies, the first band that played, was the one that got most of the rain, but I was glad it rained before The Offspring played. I mean, if it was going to rain, better have it while someone I don't care for was playing. Selfish? Maybe.

There were three other bands in between the Mummies and The Offspring (Candlebox, the horrendous Souljaboy who maybe should have gotten all the rain and perhaps a couple of lightning bolts up his ass, and Flyleaf), and by the time Dexter and Noodles came onstage it was 10:15PM. They were supposed to start playing at 9:45, but there seemed to be some tech issues that apparently couldn't be solved quickly. The crowd watched the crew members check microphones and instruments and cables and plugs and whatnot for over forty minutes, with occasional but very impatient chants for The Offspring to come out and play. And at long last, their impatience was rewarded when the band got onstage.

The Offspring played for about an hour, and it was great fun, but of course I would have liked them to play for twice that long. Actually, I wouldn't have minded if they had played every single one of their songs. Perhaps unfortunately but certainly understandably, that wasn't the case, and they played sixteen songs (plus Intermission) instead. While you could argue they could have played other songs instead of some of the ones they played, the setlist comprised songs from all their albums (except for Ignition and the self-titled album), and in that sense it was a good overview of their career. These are the songs they played:

1. Stuff Is Messed Up (from Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace)
2. Bad Habit (from Smash)
3. You're Gonna Go Far, Kid (from Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace)
4. Come Out and Play (from Smash)
5. Staring at the Sun (from Americana)
6. Gone Away (from Ixnay on the Hombre)
7. Half-Truism (from Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace)
8. Kristy, Are You Doing Okay? (from Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace)
9. Why Don't You Get a Job? (from Americana)
10. Intermission (from Ixnay on the Hombre)
11. Americana (from Americana)
12. All I Want (from Ixnay on the Hombre)
13. Pretty Fly For a White Guy (from Americana)
14. Can't Get My Head Around You (from Splinter)
15. The Kids Aren't Alright (from Americana)
16. Want You Bad (from Conspiracy of One)
17. Self Esteem (from Smash)

I was very surprised they didn't play Hammerhead, since it was the first single from Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, and I really like it, but what can you do. I really like all the songs they played (Gone Away and Kristy are the only two I don't care too much for), but I can't help but wishing they had played The Meaning of Life, my personal favorite. Other songs I would have loved to hear them play include One Fine Day, Can't Repeat, The Noose, and Lightning Rod (Conspiracy of One and Splinter were criminally underrepresented), but maybe they'll play those at some point during the tour when they have a longer concert that isn't part of a festival. Maybe.

At any rate, it was great so see my favorite band live. Dexter sounded very much like he does on the CDs, which is something I really like. I hate it when you listen to a singer live and he or she sounds nothing like they do on their records, but I am happy to report that wasn't the case. Also, I hate it when they don't play the album version of their songs, and they change it instead and do weird stuff. Once again, that wasn't the case at all (except for Gone Away), and all the songs sounded very much like they do when I play them in my car. Those are the songs I love, and that's how I want to listen to them. I don't need any experiments or versions or alterations. I wanna hear what I like, is that understood?

Dexter and Noodles exchanged some playful banter throughout the show, and you could see they were having fun. They joked about not being allowed to curse in between songs, which prompted Noodles to say he wanted to "carnally get to know" all of us people in the audience, a comment that was received with laughter and applause. Dexter also goofed around when they brought out the piano before he launched into Gone Away, and that was fun too. All in all, it looks like they had a good time, and so did I. It was very exciting to see them perform live, singing all those songs I know so well, and it was great to have lots of other fans around who also knew the lyrics by heart and sang (or bellowed) as one. Is there anything more intoxicating than standing in a crowd with hundreds of people yelling "Dance, fucker, dance!" in the middle of the night? Maybe there is, but after having screamed that exact same line in my car a gazillion times while listening to You're Gonna Go Far, Kid, singing along with Dexter was particularly exhilarating.

So there you go. The Shit is Fucked Up tour is up and rolling, and I hope it is a smashing success. That's all I want.