London, England - Wembley Arena
January 20, 2001



The Offspring Live, Wembley Arena, 20 January 2001

The Offspring playing Wembley Arena? I hear you ask. Can you even call yourself a punk if you're playing to huge, huge crowds in arenas? Well, kind of, especially if you have a plethora of top support bands ahead of you, including the rather wonderful AFI (A Fire Inside, in case you were wondering), signed to Dexter Holland's very own Nitro Records label.

Coming on to the 'Chorus Of Hebrew Slaves' (that's the 'Old Spice' music to you lot), AFI pull out all the stops to win over The Offspring's fans. The Offspring's bastard, er, offspring give a very firm nod to all things punk, and we're treated to some very accomplished riffing and drumming while we watch one of the most dynamic and engaging bands around. These guys ROCK, although if bleached blond bassist Hunter got his legs apart any further (think: Peter Hook), they'd surely break! Singer Davey Havok is quite clearly a man in love with himself, and why not? If he just ditched those black PVC kecks and wore a decent pair of shoes, the guy could shape up to be one hell of a Rock God - think Brandon Lee plus tattoos. Havok puts on one heck of a performance - combining urgent, brash vocals with some dramatic flourishes. With Hunter scissor-kicking all over the stage (cordless bass, you know), hyper-riffing guitarist Jade (another 'moody'-looking one) doing his teenage kicks (à la Clash), and some s**t hot drumming from Adam, AFI is definitely a band worth watching.

We're treated to every rock 'n' roll cliché under the sun - guitars over the head, behind the head, and some fine punk jumping and pogo-ing! But no, they're not just pop punksters. Sure, there are some punky rock moments, but there's a melancholic, more sombre side to this lot - clad mostly in black - too, along with boundless energy. Phew!

Finally, The Offspring emerge from the darkness and onto a huge, impressive stage set straight out of 'Streetfighter' - a graffiti-stained US garage (as in a garage band, perhaps?). But are they still punk? There may be some Vans in sight, but no shin-length shorts or green hair (although we spotted a few in the audience). However, there was soon some serious pogo-ing going on, on both sides of the security cordon. Singer/guitarist Dexter Holland knows how to get the fans going, and everyone from 7 to 70 was dancing (there's an old guy near us who was, quite literally, shaking a leg), including all the record executives' kids in the guest area. Guitarist Noodles is the most punk-looking of the lot. Looking like a mad professor, slightly nerdy in his glasses and with mad, mad hair, even he summons up the energy to pogo now and then.

After a couple of tunes that the crowd sing along to (word perfect, I might add), the fans p**s in their pants at the intro to 'Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)', which has the added musical addition of the skull-head percussion. Then the garage door opens to reveal yet another drummer (yes, that's three percussionists on stage at the same time) - this one looks like one of The Monkees. "It's f**king loud out there, man" shouts Dexter to the crowd, as no expense is spared and bubbles start to flow from the roof. To complete the MTV promo look - the whole evening was filmed, by the way - we even get some foamy snow spraying over the mosh pit!

So there wasn't a political agenda on offer, The Offspring didn't put the world to rights, and they weren't quite as energetic (or angry) as a younger band would have been. What we did get was an entertaining evening of sing-along pop/punk anthems and a superb stage show, which really isn't a bad thing.

By Emma Badger and Mark Harris, from Audiostreet

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