The Offspring, 19th June 2024, Helviti, Copenhell Festival, Denmark

Photo: Goran www.urbanmescalero.com

One of the big names at this year’s Copenhell are California’s The Offspring, who haven’t played Copenhagen in a long long time. Off the bat it seems bit illogical that they were not one of the four headliners, especially taking into the consideration that Machine Head was set to headline Friday. Sure, Machine Head are a sure bet in a live setting, but festival headliners they are not.

The band hit the ground running with “Come Out and Play” from their breakthrough album Smash, which turned 30 years a couple of months ago, and “All I want” which on a paper seemed like a perfect opening duo. Unfortunately, the sound didn’t match the energy and neither did the crowd. But few songs in this begun to look like The Offspring concert. Some halfway through this greatest hits parade reached an even higher level, which resulted at a party you’d expect.

Massive singalongs and jumping around even resulted in a in song like “Why Don’t You Get a Job?” being among highlights. The cover of The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” was kind of tacky, as were the long-planned dialogue sequences between Dexter and Noodles, but it’s undeniable that they were in a good mood and enjoying themselves. Dexter vocals are still intact so he easily delivered those corky melodies that often set the band apart from an ocean of other Californian punk rock bands.

There days only two band members have been around for a long time, but it should be noted the rest of the band did their job well, with especially Brandon Pertzborn on drums delivering eminently.

There was also room for some new(er) songs, including the new singe “Make it All Right”, which with its catchy chorus worked surprisingly well. But it’s classics like “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)”, “Bad Habit”, “The Kids Aren’t Alright” and the closer “Self-Esteem” that basically brought the house down.

The Offspring not only delivered what was expected from them, but actually even went pass that, delivering the joy and energy, which fans might have hoped for but not necessarily expected. Another reason why they should have headlined Friday evening at Copenhell.