Offspring Rocks Omaha: A night of nostalgia, anthems and surprise guests

That felt good.

A cathartic night full of hard-charging guitar riffs and screaming cathartic lyrics, including Bad Habit’s infamous line, “You stupid dumbshit goddamn motherfucker!,” which I reveled in screaming the other night as much as I did when playing it on cassette when I was in 7th grade.

(Yes, I had Smash on cassette. I got it for my birthday from a friend in maybe 6th grade. I loved it, but I definitely had to hide some of the songs from my parents.)

It was a packed night at The Astro, and the amphitheater was packed with screaming fans.

“These kids are crazy out here tonight. They’re fucking nuts,” said Offspring frontman Dexter Holland.

“They’re Omaha crazy!” said guitarist Noodles. “Look it up!”

“It’s a thing,” Holland replied.

The show was assembled for of 89.7 The River’s Summer Bash, and the night started off with pop/punk band Stratejacket, ska band Save Ferris and ska/funk/hard rock band The Urge, who I haven’t seen live since the Ranch Bowl days.

(Yes, this show was full of memories for me. Others, too, I’m sure.)

Plus there was a special guest appearance from Ron Emory, guitarist for TSOL. Apparently Emory lives nearby, and Offspring being such TSOL fans, they had to invite him onstage for a song.

“When we were in high school, Ron started our favorite band. We wanted to be in a band like TSOL!” Holland said as Emory walked on stage and strapped on a guitar. “They’re our heroes. His guitar playing influenced all of us. It’s because of TSOL that we’re here tonight!”

Offspring (plus Emory) tore into Abolish Government/Silent Majority, and it was incredible. Maybe not everyone knew the song, but those of us that did were in heaven and shouting “People think that I’m crazy/These people just can’t see/Wake up, silent majority.”

While they played the hits for sure, they also dropped in their new song, Make It All Right, which fit right in and will

They closed the show with Why Don’t You Get a Job?, Pretty Fly For a White Guy and The Kids Aren’t Alright before an encore of You’re Gonna Go Far Kid and Self Esteem. There were beach balls and confetti and Dexter and Noodles goofing off, which mixed well with the band’s blend of punk rock and goofy rock anthems.

It was so much fun. I was in heaven. (So was 6th grade me, who got that album 30 years ago and couldn’t believe he was seeing it all live.)

“Man what a night,” Holland said

“Incredible. Beautiful evening. Beautiful great music all night long. Beautiful venue,” Noodles said before joking, “I think you and I should go in on a second home here in Omaha, Nebraska.”

“It’d be like a band house we can jam and record songs. We can live together,” Holland said.

Then before launching into Self Esteem to close out the night, Noodles turned serious for a moment: “We’re blessed to be able to do what we do. The audiences aren’t all the same. You brought your spirits. You brought your energy. You brought your hearts. It means the world to us. Thank you, Omaha, Nebraska!”

Offspring and The Urge in Omaha - 7/23/2024

The Offspring performs at The Astro in La Vista, Neb.

Dexter Holland performs with The Offspring at The Astro in La Vista, Neb.

Noodles performs with The Offspring at The Astro in La Vista, Neb.

Dexter Holland performs with The Offspring at The Astro in La Vista, Neb.

Noodles performs with The Offspring at The Astro in La Vista, Neb.

Steve Ewing of The Urge performs at The Astro in La Vista, Neb.

Steve Ewing of The Urge performs at The Astro in La Vista, Neb.

Steve Ewing of The Urge performs at The Astro in La Vista, Neb.

Steve Ewing of The Urge performs at The Astro in La Vista, Neb.

Steve Ewing of The Urge performs at The Astro in La Vista, Neb.

Bill Reiter of The Urge performs at The Astro in La Vista, Neb.