Billed as "LIVE 105's Punk Rock Picnic," this Labor Day Weekend stop on the 2014 Epitaph Summer Nationals Tour was held in the parking lot of the famous Shoreline Amphitheater, south of San Francisco. Perched right in Google, Apple and Facebook's backyard, Shoreline is known for hosting popular national acts. I'd never been there before, though I must say that hosting the event in parking lot was a good move that lent a mid to late 90s Warped Tour vibe to the proceedings (including the short setlists).
After being thoroughly pat down for weapons, drugs, alcohol, and / or DLSR cameras, we'd found that we'd just barely missed Stiff Little Fingers' set. No matter, the first band that was required reading for us personally was The Vandals. They gave a solid performance of post—revival hits (that is, from about '91 to '98) with the exception of the famed "Anarchy Burger." Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and they played with energy, joy and technical prowess–despite the trappings of middle age. The indomintable Mr. Josh Freese was particularly on his game. As expected (at least from the last three times I'd seen the band), Guitarist Warren Fitzgerald took the mic for the final number, their 1995 cover of "I Have a Date."
The Vandals' 35 minute set seemed to fly by in roughly that same number of seconds, and we were again treated to LIVE 105's "intermission radio" complete with those overwrought growly call signs (you know the sound: that Clear Channel TESTOSTERONE DESTINATION STATION type thing). Mostly pop punk fare, with the occassional "huh?" track, like Bob Marley's "Is This Love" and Jesus Jones' "Right Here, Right Now."
The Vandals Setlist:
It's a Fact
Cafe 405
Live Fast Diarrhea
People That Are Going to Hell
Oi to the World
I've Got an Ape Drape
The New You
Anarchy Burger (Hold the Government)
And Now We Dance
My Girlfriend's Dead
I Have a Date
Pennywise, as they are wont to do, took forever and ever to take to the stage. I mean, a really long time. Longer. Than. Usual. Fletcher's pre—game drinking was effective however, and he was thoroughly trashed by the time they began to play. Jim is clearly happy to be back with the boys again after his one night stand with The Black Pacific (and Pennywise's brief stint with Ignite's Zoli Téglás), and he belted out every lyric from the heart. The set focused on older material, and there was nothing newer than "About Time" to be heard save "My Own Country" from 1999's Straight Ahead and "Fuck Authority" from 2001's Land of the Free... Which was just fine with me. Full Circle was the true beginning of the oft—stated complaint that "all Pennywise songs sound the same" (more on this later). They played a few songs that I really haven't heard live since the mid—nineties, like "Peaceful Day." In between songs there was plenty of banter and commentary. Fletcher managed to call Kevin Lyman, Warped Tour's founder, a bunch of names and berating him before the crowd. A sure highlight was when Fat Mike joined the band on stage to play bass on the (obligatory) set finale Bro Hym, allowing Randy to play guitar, something that, Jim quipped, "was his first time."
Pennywise Setlist:
Pennywise
Rules
My Own Country
Same Old Story
My Own Way
Minor Threat
Peaceful Day
Fuck Authority
Society
Bro Hymn
Because of Pennywise's delay in starting their set, and the numerous digressions throughout, Bad Religion was rushed on almost immediately afterwords. This was the band I was most stoked to see (always!), and for the most part, their setlist did not dissapoint. Around the middle, they belted out five tracks from Suffer in a row, and played songs I rarely hear from them anymore, like "Skyscraper" and "Best for You." The Suffer material was for sure the highlight. By the way, Graffin has stopped dying his hair. He's pure grey now, and looks actually tougher as a result. But it was not all candy and popcorn. I've loved Bad Religion for over two decades, and I was disheartened upon the news of Hetson's departure. This was my first time seeing the group perform without him, ever. And I must say, very honestly, that I was deeply disappointed by Mike Dimkich, formerly of The Cult. His performance was not only lackluster and lazy, but he also mangled every single one of Hetson's solos. I'm a terrible lead player, but I'm sure I could have thrown together half a major scale for "21st Century (Digital Boy)" that would best whatever he noodled out. If he's going to be that awful of a soloist, just let Baker handle all the duties, please. All told, Bad Religion were on about just as long as Pennywise, and played five more songs than them (Graffin's dialog with the crowd was minimal).
Bad Religion Setlist:
Fuck Armageddonâ¦This Is Hell
21st Century (Digital Boy)
Stranger Than Fiction
Fuck You
Dharma and the Bomb
Supersonic
Skyscraper
You Are (The Government)
1000 More Fools
How Much Is Enough?
Best for You
Do What You Want
Sorrow
You
American Jesus
Okay. I hadn't seen The Offspring perform since 1995 with Quicksand and The Vandals at Cal State Dominguez Hills. This was going to be interesting. The band's stage setup differed greatly from that of their opening peers. For one, there were enough lighting effects to cause a seizure, and for two, both their current drummer, Pete Parada, and an unnamed supporting guitar player were up on a really, really tall riser platform behind Greg, Dexter and Noodles. You might argue that all this pomp and circumstance made them look majestic and more rock 'n' roll, but after watching three very hard working bands whom the The Offspring had opened for at one time or another, it did not. It just made them look like tremendous tools. On top of this, their interaction with the crowd came across as scripted and insincere.
Having gotten that off my chest, it was indeed very cool to hear Smash played (with the exception of shoving "Self Esteem" to the rear) front to back. Some of my favorite Offspring songs, like "Nitro (Youth Energy)," "Genocide," and "Something to Believe in" were just terrific to hear live. I'm sure a few of these tracks they've never played on stage before. Certainly not their cover of "Killboy Powerhead." After a quick break, the band came back out and belted through a bunch of their more well—known songs, some great ("Americana" and "All I Want"), the rest ranging from mediocre to awful. It's a bit hard to get behind "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)," you know? The Offspring have always been two band for the price of one–the punk band with a gallop beat that delivers Bad Religion—influenced anthems, and the pop radio band that hauls in bushels of top 40 garbage. It's like every album of theirs that I own has half (or more) of the songs unchecked in my media player. Between these two sets at Punk Rock Picnic, however, we got to hear both bands.
I came away from The Offspring's performance with two insights: first, wealthy artists tend to get lazy. Second, the secret to being a successful popular music act is to write the same song over and over in a way that only people who play music can tell. Well, three insights, actually. Pennywise's only crime is that they do this in a way that anyone can tell.
The Offspring Setlist:
Nitro (Youth Energy)
Bad Habit
Gotta Get Away
Genocide
Something to Believe In
Come Out and Play
It'll Be a Long Time
Killboy Powerhead
So Alone
What Happened to You?
Not the One
Smash
Self Esteem
Encore:
Americana
All I Want
(Can't Get My) Head Around You
Why Don't You Get a Job?
You're Gonna Go Far, Kid
Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)
The Kids Aren't Alright