The Offspring - Gig Review & Photo Gallery 11th May @ Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney NSW

The Offspring
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney NSW
May 11, 2025
Supports: Simple Plan

It’s Mothers Day at Homebush and before we’ve even headed into the arena, the shit awful weather seems to have put a dampener on proceedings. If you were to make a call based on the collective mood of the 20,000 odd people sauntering nonchalantly around Sydney Olympic Park then you might be lead to believe that this evenings entertainment was going to be a dreary miserable mess.

For starters, this is a punk rock show and despite the expectation that people may very well deck themselves out in patch-clad well worn denim, semi-shaved all-sort hair and studded combat boots, there’s actually a lot of sensibly dressed people about. Based on the comfortableness of their attire I’m starting to worry that this aimless horde might just get cozy enough to fall asleep halfway through the show. 

The truth of the matter is that, for the vast majority of this crowd, The Offspring and Simple Plan were a very large chunk of the soundtrack to their youth and while they may have grown out of their pink hair and into a matching set of Kathmandu puffer vests, the music on show tonight are ingrained in their very souls. 

As always with Qudos, the place is heavy on security, some of who are simply awful and make the whole process of getting inside a grind. I get it mate. You’re a big angry ball of meat. But this mob are pretty sedate at the moment and none of these ticket holders paid the money they did to be talked to like shit.

A couple of mid strength drinks later and we head into a quickly filling arena as ‘All the Small Things’ by blink-182 gets played over the loudspeakers. The outside bleakness has since subsided as the crowd belts out a collective “NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NAAA NA”. Green Day then asks “Do you have the time, to listen to me whine”, and the place is suitably revved up the almighty punch of the Star Wars theme blasts from the stage.

Canada’s teen-grief middle-aged pop punk gurus Simple Plan swan on out and rip into ‘I’d Do Anything’ to a happy squealing crowd. There’s a lot of dad bods in this building and not one of them is on stage. The lads have defied the aging process but I wonder if it’s gunna get weird when a bunch of blokes with their D.O.B will sound weird singing teen problem songs. Apparently not as my mate Kel turns to me and says “I feel 12 years old”. Not me though. I just feel old. To be completely fair, Simple Plan were never my cup of bourbon back in the day, but Kel is remembering songs that she forgot she knew and it turns out that I know way more of their catalogue than I let myself believe.

The rabble point to the sky as they scream along to ‘Shut Up’ before vocalist Pierre Bouvier tells me and the rest of the crowd to ‘Jump’. I don’t wanna snap a hamstring so I choose instead to bounce gingerly. The banter is non stop and very engaging, however we are three songs in and he’s already name dropped this city seven times. I’ve now started a “SYDNEY AUSTRALIA” count.

Special guest Jenna McDougall (Hevenshe/Tonight Alive) comes out to sing ‘Jetlag’ in place of Natasha Bedingfield. Jenna’s decked out in an Adidas tracksuit that’s a tad nicer than the one I was sporting in 1994.  I get the sense she might be a wee bit nervous but she absolutely nails it while giving herself every chance to soak it all in. Great work legend. 

Not everything they sing abut is strictly just about teen angst. Like when they belt out ’Welcome To My Life’, Pierre sings “Do you like to lock yourself in your room” and at the ripe old age of 47 I’m like, "YEAH. YEAH I DO!!!" ‘Addicted’ follows and by this point Qudos is, save for a few seats, packed to the top of the 33m high roof. Heads are bobbing and arms are waving politely. There's a lot of smiles on faces and this whole environment is very far removed from the violent pits I’m accustomed to. 

The fun times rolls on with ‘Thank You’, ’Summer Paradise’ and ‘Boom!’ before we’re treated to the tour debut of ‘Iconic’. But when a bunch of legends run onto the stage dressed as everyone's favourite canine sleuth ‘What’s New Scooby Doo’ it really is a party at Qudos. Then shit gets weird when an arena full of adults start screaming ‘I’m Just A Kid’ at high volume and looking about I can only see about a handful of children that can correctly make that claim. But to be fair, this song has brought out the kid in everyone. Pierre swaps spots with drummer Chuck Comeau, grabs the sticks and could easily give Lars Ulrich a run for his money.

The phone light fireflies come out for the show closer ‘Perfect’ and it hits home for a few legends in the audience. While it would’ve been sung with a very different feeling as a teenager, I see a few tears get wiped away from a few eyes when the now adults collectively sing “I’m sorry, I can’t be perfect”. A little bit moving but definitely a lot of fun. An awesome return to these shores from these aging teenagers.

‍Simple Plan “Sydney, Australia” count: 21

The lines at the merch table inside the front door before the show were massive and they haven’t gone down in the interim. The Offspring skeleton shirt is cool, but the Simple Plan - Back To The Future shirt wins. A 30:00 minute countdown clock hits the stage video backdrop and I’m getting flashbacks of the Taylor Swift concert all over again. In the build up a miniature blimp floats around the arena as onlookers are treated to a very American half time entertainment that includes Booty Cam, Trivia questions about the band and Kiss Cam. Given the amount of siblings seated together along with all the parent/adult children present there's a real risk of this getting a bit Tasmanian (it’s a bloody joke. Calm down. Besides, we all know Tasmanians can’t read. AGAIN. A joke. Calm down I said…), but cam-kisses include couples of all ages, a couple of bearded blokes that have been dying to get it on for a while now and an older woman that wants nothing to do with her very keen husband. With five minutes to go, lightning hits the backdrop as the AC/DC anthem ‘Thunderstruck’ blasts through the PA.

AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AHHHH-THUNDA… 

lights out…

…“You gotta keep ‘em separated”

The Offspring charge out grinning like they just sold the shit out of this huge arena to a crowd full of legends dancing like they’re at a high school disco all over again. As they tear through ‘Come Out And Play’ they look skyward to see every seat chockers all the way to the roof and the spot on the dance floor that’s usually reserved for those who’d rather cross their arms and not join in is filled with blokes jumping around like they won’t have to dose up on painkillers tomorrow at work.

The little push pit starts as the opening lick to ’Original Prankster’ tears through the joint and frontman Dexter Holland leaves it to the rabble to sing “YOU CAN DO IT!!!” The push pit the turns into three of them as old favourites ’Want You Bad’ and ‘Staring At The Sun’ get this place really going. Other than the push and shove up the front, the larger contingent of the crowd stay in their own space. While there’s not a great deal of lateral movement on the ground and a lot of the people in the stands are planted firmly on their arses, no one here is having a bad time. Far from it. They’re dancing a singing every bit of this show.

Two massive inflatable skeletons start to rise at the back of the stage for ‘Looking Out For #1’ from the new album Supercharged and one of the skeletons is looking a bit limp on Noodles side of the stage. The song goes over way better than most new songs would from a band of this vintage but it still doesn't get the response of the real older, more instilled tunes of their catalogue. The new stuff still sounds like the Offspring we all know and love, it’s catchy as hell and holds it’s own amongst the classics. ‘Hammerhead’ gets a similar response but the mid-song bass line from Todd Morse gets a good rise out of the mob on hand. Things liven up considerably for ‘Hit That’ as this Aussie audience change the “OH OH OH” to “OI OI OI” and the vibe stays alive for ‘Bad Habit’ and other new banger ‘Make It Alright’.‍

At this point Dexter and Noodles kick back a little and showcase their unique friendship in front of an enthralled Sydney crowd. They give shoutouts to the crowd signs, some of which aren’t fit to print here, while listening to them amuse themselves, as well as the thousands of punters in attendance. Their unique camaraderie is genuinely brilliant to witness and the comedic back and forth this pair share can only come from years of true friendship. Dexter takes off for a quick breather as Noodles hangs out on stage with “lead bassist” Todd, “lead multi instrumentalist” Jonah Nimoy and new “lead drummer” Brandon Pertzborn (who was born an entire decade after The Offspring formed). Amidst the banter, they playfully deliver sections of a handful of classics including ‘Smoke On The Water’ by Deep Purple, Iron Man by Black Sabbath (a personal favourite of Dexter’s) and Back In Black by AC/DC. It makes for a nice breather from the onslaught of Offspring songs and after they tear through Edward Grieg’s ‘In The Hall Of The Mountain King and all time classic ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ by The Ramones they rip into ‘Gotta Get Away’ to seal this very cool moment.

Then the piano gets wheeled out as Kel turns to me saying “Oh no, they’re gunna do the sad song.” Dexter sits down at the bright white piano sans band, talks about how he wrote this song to deal with his personal loss, asked the silent crowd to put their fireflies in the air for the people they’ve lost and delivers a beautiful and stirring version of their 1997 classic ‘Gone Away’. Kel asks me if I’ve got a bit of dust in my eyes and the room must be filled with it, because there’s a few tears about at Qudos tonight.

After the piano is wheeled away and the crowd tries to put the band aid back on the wound they’ve just opened back up, a bunch of balloons go flying out into the healing crowd as they song along to ‘Why Don’t You Get A Job?’. ‘Spare Me the Details’ picks the crowd up a bunch more and by the time ‘Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) starts the place has well and truly forgotten any heartbreak they may have recently experienced. A couple of wacky-waving inflatable-arm flailing-tube white guys flap about on either side of the stage and a few of the drunks up the back are dancing along with them. ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’ is like a fun-punch to the soul and serves as the supposed “last song” of the night. The lads bid us farewell, although we all know that’s bullshit, but that doesn’t stop a bunch of punters, unfamiliar with the notion of the fake encore, start to leave the premises abruptly. Rookies.

The ugly lights stay off as the blimp re-emerges with a green glow and a “DANCE FUCKER DANCE” flag hanging off its arse. The screen lights up with some Akira level Manga motorbikes going hard. The five legends get back in their places and blast their way through ‘You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” as Dexter tells us “It doesn't get better than that. I mean, come on.” Noodles concurs, saying “I’m gunna go out on a limb and say that tonight here in Sydney, this is the best thing that has ever happened to rock and roll ever in the history of mankind” and you know what, they mean it. Then “LAAA LAAA LA LA LA, LAAA LAAA LA LA LA!” kicks off ‘Low Self Esteem’ as confetti and pyro flies through the air. The room collectively bounces for this song, which for many was their first ever Offspring song, but its the last one we’ll hear tonight.

An absolute joyous night, filled with nostalgia, happiness and even a few tears. Both bands sounded a million bucks and with the additional banter between tunes made for engaging entertainment. The headliners though, man it’s like I time travelled to my youth again. The apparent ease in which they command this audience is forged on the back of decades of being at the forefront of punk rock. The humour on show is entirely there's to portray and while everything on show tonight is their own inside joke, this entire packed arena are in on it. Plus I now get why a bunch of Simple Plan fans still love singing about being just a kid. Unbelievable. Nothing but good vibes.

Offspring “Sydney, Australia” count: 6

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Review by Duane James @duanejamestattoo

Photo Gallery by Bree Vane. Insta: @mindtheweathervane Please credit Wall of Sound and Bree Vane if you repost.