The Offspring, London Camden Underworld
*The gig took place aboard HMS President!*
What do a bunch of ageing punk rockers do for a good time? Well, its seems they get their record label to pay for a flight to England so they can play on a boat, and a small boat at that. On Wednesday 12th November the HMS President was home to one of the most intimate gigs you will ever see The Offspring play, in honour of their forthcoming album ‘Splinter’. I was one of the lucky couple of hundred people on board, for what turned out to be a very special nights entertainment.
So at first glance, a boat would seem a strange place for a punk gig. However, once inside, HMS President proved herself more than up to the task. Just through the bar area was a room that really looked capable of producing a decent show. After sitting around drinking over-priced alcohol for an hour, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived. The Offspring took to the stage and launched straight into a blistering version of ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’. What was immediately apparent was how good the band sounded, and just how pleased they seemed to be playing such a small venue.
The choice of set list was inspired to say the least with the majority of the nights tracks coming from ‘Smash’ or ‘Ixnay’. The likes of ‘Come Out And Play’, ‘Gone Away’ and ‘Gotta Get Away’ sounded album perfect, and were well received by the enthusiastic crowd. Dexter’s vocals seemed in great shape, and Noodles, despite the ever-greying hair, still looked like punk rock personified. For a gig that was supposedly to mark the bands new album, they only played three new tracks, including ‘Da Hui’ and ‘Hit That’. Certainly in this environment, the speed hinted that the new album could be better than their previous couple of lacklustre efforts. But anyway back to the gig, where a decent version of an appalling song, ‘Why Don’t You Get A Job’, went down well with many of the crowd. However, that moment was soon forgiven when the band launched into ‘Session’, a song I’ve never know them play live, and a definite highlight of the night. Another standout moment was a superb version of ‘Bad Habit’, which had the audience jumping and the band grinning from ear to ear. Novelty song ‘Pretty Fly’ wrapped up proceedings just after an hour, before the band returned to encore with ‘Want You Bad’ and the classic ‘Self esteem’.
This really was a once in a lifetime opportunity for all those that attended. You really don’t get to see a band of this size in venue this small very often. The atmosphere on the boat was great and the band sounded better than I’ve ever heard them. The policy of playing predominantly older material was a great decision by the band and was greatly appreciated by the crowd. This would have been a special gig anyway, but the fact that The Offspring were great and rolled back the years in style made this one night none of the lucky crowd will forget in a hurry.
Mark
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