Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming
Another hot one! I've followed The Offspring since 1997 so this was such a special show. On Tuesday (7.23) 89.7 The River threw an amazing party with a stacked line-up. If Offspring wasn't enough they brought along Midwest funk staples The Urge, the legendary ska band Save Ferris and newcomers Strate Jacket.
The weather was a steamy 85 degrees when I arrived. With an early 5:15 start the sun was still beating down on everyone's neck. I don't normally pick up promotional swag but the Fox 42 tent had some Masked Singer bucket hats which provided some much needed protection. As Wu-Tang says "Protect Ya Neck! also, "Diversify Yo Bonds!"
The first band up was Strate Jacket from San Fransisco. These guys were the young guns on the bill. As a three piece from the bay area I've seen a lot of Green Day comparisons out there, but y'all, if you close your eyes and listen to lead singer Jackson he sounds exactly like Billie Joe Armstong. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, Green Day rules! I caught up with Jackson after the set and told him I had to Google if he was the son of the famous front man. He laughed it off as I'm sure he's heard it all before. But seriously they sounded great and they had the rock star swagger down. I'd love to see them if they come to the Waiting Room or the Reverb. I'm sure they could pack one of those smaller rooms out and have a blast. You can check out Strate Jacket's new single "Bad Start" on streaming or in the regular River rotation.
Next up was the legendary ska band Save Ferris. Since the band has been together since 1995 I've heard many of their songs here and there but I never delved much into their full catalog. What a mistake! These guys and gals were absolutely killer. I would put them up there right alongside No Doubt as one of the best ska bands around. They had such a fun time with the crowd too. Several die-hard fans threw home made bracelets to singer Monique and trumpet player Tristan said someone threw him a pic. Talk about the ultimate role reversal, ha!
Monique mentioned that the band had an appearance in a little film that went on to have a huge cult following. That movie was Ten Things I Hate About You and the song was "I Know". This was a massive crowd pleaser as I'm sure many people in their 30s and 40s have seen the film. The band closed with a wicked cover of "Come On Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners and the place exploded. What an awesome set by such a legendary band. I'm so glad I got the rare chance to see Save Ferris. I hope it won't be the last.
As the sun was starting to finally give a little repreive funk masters The Urge stepped forth. A few moments before they hit the stage Jake Ryan from the River made everyone feel old by asking if we remember The Urge from the Ranch Bowl days. Yes Jake, I remember the Ranch Bowl and now I have to go take some Advil for my back, haha. But for real, The Urge has a long storied tradition with Omaha. Coming from St. Louis they're only a few hours away so they've played here a ton of times throughout the years.
This was all second-hand to me but in 1997 or 1998 the band got stuck in a snow storm in my small town of Weeping Water. I believe they hunkered down at the local community center and some of the older kids in town got to party with them. A couple days later at school I saw some kids with The Urge t-shirts. They said they got on the guest list at the Ranch Bowl show if they showed their ID was from Weeping Water. I was only like 12 or 13 so going to the Ranch Bowl on a school night wasn't in the cards just yet. If anyone remembers the full story leave a comment and fill me in. Anyways, I was getting into 311 and other alternative music around the late 90s and Nick Hexum from 311 did a guest vocal on the song "Jump Right In" so naturally I had to buy The Urge's album Master Of Styles. From there I bought Receiving The Gift Of Flavor and so on.
The Urge hit the stage with fury and jumped into "Violent Opposition" getting the crowd on their feet right from the jump! Steve and the crew had people moving and grooving, breaking into a sweat. The Urge has hits for days like "Too Much Stereo", "Straight To Hell", and "Four Letters And Two Words". Towards the end of the set the band brought Monique from Save Ferris out for a cover of "One Love" by Bob Marley. Of course the band can't leave us hanging without their biggest hit "Getting Hectic"! Was anyone else today years old when they learned that's actually a cover song??!! Well I'll be. You learn something new every day. The Urge kicked our butts and we had an awesome time rocking out with these "local" legends.
As the sun was going down things were finally cooling down a bit and we were ready for the pop punk legends The Offspring! Having followed the band for so many years I've had the opportunity to see them live several times and they never dissapoint.
I was surprised when they kicked off the set with one of their biggest songs "Come Out And Play" from the album Smash, which turns 30 this year! Though the band has been going for over 35 years they still sound excellent live. Dexter's vocals were on point for the whole set and Noodles wailed on guitar absolutely shredding the stage. With so many years of hits the crowd was going insane all night! Dexter kept mentioning how amazed they were with the Omaha crowd and that everyone knew all the words to every song. You can tell the band has been together so long with Dexter contsantly razzing Noodles saying "Noodles doesn't know all the songs, just parts of songs". This prompted Noodles to do a little medly of classic rock songs including "Iron Man" and "Sweet Child O' Mine".
One of the first times I saw Offspring was on Warped Tour. Dexter noticed some medics on the side of the stage and asked why there wasn't a young kid over there getting to enjoy the show. Noodles excalaimed "Because I'm the oldest guy on Warped Tour and they don't know if I'm going to make it!" Not only did he make it through but that was like 15 years ago and he's still going strong!
One other cool moment was when the band brought up Ron Emery from the legendary punk band T.S.O.L to play guitar on "Abolish Government/Silent Majority". Ron lives close by in Souix City, IA and runs a music school for kids with his wife. So cool to see these forefathers keeping the music going for the next generation.
Offspring had some really fun stage production. For "Pretty Fly For A White Guy" they had two wacky-wavy-inflatable-arm-flailing-tube-men flanked on each side of the stage representing the wack "white nerd" from the music video. After that they threw out some giant beach balls and the crowd wacked them all over the place. My son wanted to hit one so bad and he got the chance like three times as they made their way all the way to the back.
My brother brought his young sons and we had an awesome time rocking out reminiscing of the old days when we'd listen to Ixnay On The Hombre on repeat. Offspring has been such a huge part of our lives it's so cool to see them still doing their thing and rocking the masses.
Offspring's new album Supercharged is set to release in October. Make sure to give them a follow so you don't miss it! A huge thanks to Offspring management, Mammoth and 1% Productions and of course 89.7 The River for putting on such an incredible show. Thanks for reading and we'll see you at the next one!
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