Wellington, New Zealand - Queens Wharf
June 27, 1999



Wellington, New Zealand - Sunday, 27 June, 1999

Tongue-in-cheek punk rockers The Offspring stormed Wellington last night with a tempo faster then an over-amped strobe light and more attitude than schoolchildren caught wagging. A young boy on a swing reminded the crowd of the tour purpose - to promote the Americana album - but vocalist Dexter Holland led the fans on a romp through old favourites from 'Smash' and 'Ixnay On The Hombre' to crazed renditions of current mainstream favourites. The foursome took a surging mass of teenagers into a crowd-surfing fenzy. After sweating through satirical punk-rock anthems such as 'Come out and Play', 'Pretty Fly (for a white guy)' and 'Self Esteem' the crowd was cooled down when Holland - whose original ambitions was to be a doctor - turned on the fire hose and soaked the masses. The final set - following the lighting-enhanced apparition of the swinging boy's skeleton - gave a candy-cane atmosphere. Pink and blue lighting shimmered off bubbles and glitter as The Offspring wound up their finale. Disappointingly, they did not come out for an encore. Also worth more than a mention were Californian support act Guttermouth, who exceeded any expectations of their name with displays of spit catching and a rat-a-tat use of expletives, performing with more animation then 'The Simpsons' on speed. Impressive too were charged Wellington punk-rock foursome 'Brubeck', led by energetic and talented vocalist Paul Tansley.

From "The Dominion" newspaper