Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
March 7, 1997

OFFSPRING, A.F.I. Newport (Columbus) March 7 -- Having struck again with IXNAY ON THE HOMBRE, the follow-up to their aptly titled LP, SMASH, the Offspring hit the road for a grueling trip through our end of the country that currently brought the Orange County quartet only as close as Columbus. Selling out the Newport Music Hall, a smallish version of the Agora, only in black, the Offspring tromped into Buckeye country with a mission, and what appeared to be a bit of a rock and roll hangover.

Taking the stage with little ceremony, the West Coast foursome kicked off the show in high gear with a powerful reading of SMASH's "Bad Habit," which had the capacity crowd churning up to the stage and yelling along with the animated Bryan "Dexter" Holland, who used the song as his cue to show the crowd that he wasn't averse to taking a little trip into the seething pit. Before donning a guitar of his own for the IXNAY disc opener, "Meaning Of Life," Holland extended the invitation onstage to anyone gutsy (and crafty) enough to make the trip up for a little stage diving of their own. Guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman followed up quickly with the fiery riffs that mark "Genocide," as the thundering rhythms provided by drummer Ron Welty and bassist Greg Kriesel whipped the crowd into a heightened fervor. By the time the band launched into its fourth song, "Me And My Old Lady," it was becoming obvious that its endurance-testing schedule (nearly 20 shows in the last 3 weeks) was taking its toll on Holland's voice, and he was happy to let the crowd fill in some of the lyrics now and then.

They didn't seem to mind his skimping on the vocals, as the band continued to churn out speedy versions of both older and newer material. "Come Out And Play," the tune that outed the band to radio listeners nationwide, sent the pit frothing over frightfully from its opening riffs. Holland, probably in need of a break for his strained vocal cords, took several opportunities to share dressing room goodies such as Cheez Whiz, honey and salsa with eager fans crushed up against the stage barricades, while Wasserman playfully fired off the carnival-like riffs of IXNAY's opening track, "Disclaimer." The band reached back to 1992's IGNITION once for the bombastic "Kick Him When He's Down," but concentrated mainly on material from SMASH for most of the 70-minute, 15-song set, hitting their new disc only three more times with "Mota" and the first single, "All I Want."

The Offspring finished up the show in their typical sarcastic, irreverent fashion with the hard-hitting "Self Esteem," interrupted briefly by Holland, who had the crowd doing the cheesiest rock-concert antics he could think of. Included were chants of "Whoop, there it is," waving their arms rhythmically, and the end-all, be-all of concert cliches, the display of lighters, followed by a short snippet of Queen's "We Will Rock You," before returning to the SMASH single that had the well-lit mosh pit resembling a mob-scene. The Offspring obliged the crowd's loud demands that they return and delivered a quick encore by dipping into IXNAY one last time for the anthemic "Gone Away" and IGNITION's "Session," wrapping things up in fine West Coast punk style with punchy guitars and persistent drumming backing Holland's enthusiastic, albeit weary vocals. Wasserman was the last to leave the stage, swinging his guitar back and forth in front of one of the many amps onstage, leaving the crowd with a wall of feedback to gnaw on for the trip home. West Coast buddies A.F.I. opened, weaving together heavy guitars with vocals that landed somewhere between the Offspring's Holland and Bush's Gavin Rossdale. With a short, but tightly energetic 35-minute set, A.F.I. served as a suitable opener for the Offspring, with complimentary styles and pure DIY attitudes.

By Ken Advent