NOFX / Mad Caddies / Frenzal Rhomb

On Friday, March 22, 2002 I attended what could be one of the best shows I’ve been to in my 3 years in the punk scene. Slated to play that night were Fabulous Disaster, Frenzal Rhomb, Mad Caddies, and one of the first punk bands I ever got into, NOFX.

First to go on was Fabulous Disaster, whom I missed due to the bastard security guards feeling me up. The next band I was extremely anxious to see, Frenzal Rhomb, from Sydney, Australia. I learned of this band from an extremely good compilation put out by Fat Wreck Chords--"Survival of the Fattest", I suggest you pick it up. They came on and after their first song I just had to go in the pit. The pits were pretty good, and their set was filled with Fat Wreck Chords-esque punk rock.

The next band to play was the Mad Caddies. I’m not really into their shitty ska/punk sounds, and didn’t particularly care for their set so I wont even write about it.

Now onto the meat and potatoes of the show: NOFX!!!!! NOFX came out; El Hefe, Fat Mike, Eric Melvin, and Smelly. They were a little upset about having to go on so god damn early, approximately 7:20, so they decided they’d play a special set for us. Their “special” set was quite an idea; they would play from slow to fast, starting with all their slower, reggae-like songs and work their way up to their ultra fast pop punk we know them for.

During the middle of the set, where they played their mid-tempo stuff, Fat Mike proclaimed that the next song was the best song he ever wrote. They launched into a track from the NOFX/Rancid split EP, Olympia, WA, and the crowd went fuckin nuts and sung along to every word. Fat Mike then went on a little political rant about how he hates George W. Bush, then began to play a portion of a new song he wrote called “Idiot son of an asshole”. This song was pure genius and I sure hope someone bootlegged it.

They ended their set with an extended version of “A Theme From a NOFX Album” and members of the other bands jumped on stage to sing backup. All in all I left the show not feeling ripped off at all, and with a giant grin on my face. The only thing that made me a little perturbed was the fact they didn’t have any vinyl, and as an avid record collector this just sucks.