Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium
May 7, 1997



Offspring's Show Caters To Punks' Tastes

The Offspring is one of the most popular yet embattled of the acts that rose during punk rock's second wave in the late '80s. Within the punk world, the suburban Orange County quartet became suspect last year when it left the indie label Epitaph for the major label Columbia. Cries of "sellout" have pestered the band ever since. But the controversy seemed unimportant Wednesday at the Hollywood Palladium, where the Offspring played a relatively spare, club-like set drawn mainly from its 1994 breakthrough album, "Smash", and its critically acclaimed but less commercially potent "Ixnay on the Hombre".

The only nod to the band's new arena level was the highly orchestrated concert lighting. A cleaner, less threatening version of the original punk rockers, the Offspring catered to the tastes of young punks with a straightforward show riding on the stormy, short-burst playing of guitarist Noodles and the distinctive, high-pitched singing of Dexter Holland, whose voice is a sweet hurricane. Jump-starting the show with the sonic spitfire "Bad Habit," the band peaked Wednesday with the inventive blend of Middle Eastern riffs and punchy rock and punk on the anthem "Come Out and Play" and on the "Meaning of Life," a song about bucking the status quo.

While the new songs are less imediate and catchy, they're more interesting musically. Unfortunately, the Palladium's erratic sound made it nearly impossible to appreciate the band's growth. But there wasn't much in the way of surprises. Holland, wearing camouflage zipper pants, sang in the typical punk combat stance, and the band delivered testosterone-pumping rock that sometimes fell into a pounding repetition. But the show seemed like just what the writhing bodies in the pit wanted-nothing more, nothing less.

By Sara Scribner, from "Los Angeles Times" - May 9, 1997

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