Supercharged - The Offspring Follow Up

Thank you to everyone who shared their concert bucket list and commiserated with my disbelief that the Offspring were set to start at 9 pm. Most folks agreed that it seemed a little late, but there were a few night owls who teased me about my concern for late-night rocking. I had a lot of fun with the emails.

I promised an update on the concert and the night out with my girlfriend so let's get right to it.

First, what a great night! The Offspring put on an amazing show. It might be the best concert as far as stage production. It might even be better than a KISS concert.

When the opening band (Bad Religion) ended their set, the video screens came alive with an Offspring announcement that the intermission was beginning. I thought that strange because I’ve seen anything like that from any of the concerts I’ve ever attended.

Quickly, a mini blimp flew from behind the stage and over the crowd. It had a camera mounted on it and took video of the crowd below which was broadcast to the large video wall. Then cameramen ran around taking video of the crowd as it danced and sang to a variety of songs including rock, disco, and pop. Most of those in attendance stayed in the arena to watch all the fun happening on the screen.

The thirty minutes between acts has never gone so fast. It was amazing.

Then the Offspring came on stage at 9 pm on the dot. I’ll say that again—on the dot! The band was so good they knocked our socks off. The Offspring have a ton of hits and the crowd sang along with every one of them.

The video wall ran videos throughout the show. Some of them matched the vibe of the song being sung. Others had matching lyrics that popped on the screen as the lead singer said them. It was crazy to see the synchronicity of the whole event.

At points in the show, the blimp came back out and put the crowd on the screen with the band. Confetti dropped during a couple of songs, and the band tossed out a punch of beach balls during another. It was a great time.

The concert ended around 10:30 pm and we made it home about an hour later. All in all, I didn’t turn into a pumpkin.

This post originally appeared as a VIP Newsletter.