Four young punks from Garden Grove, Calif. felt rock and roll needed a sense of humour, back in the 1990s.
The music of the time was crunchy, thunderous, insightful, even enlightened (the dominators of the day were the likes of Soundgarden, Rush, Pearl Jam, 54-40, Green Day, Beastie Boys, The Tragically Hip, Living Color, Body Count, Our Lady Peace, Henry Rollins, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Nirvana, Sarah McLachlan, Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Cochrane, Alanis Morissette, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, etc.) but it was oh so earnest.
The Offspring loved the sound. They grabbed hold of the power cords, slammed out some power chords and gave the world tunes like Self Esteem, Come Out And Play (Keep 'Em Separated), The Kids Aren't Alright, Hammerhead, You're Gonna Go Far, Kid, Pretty Fly For A White Guy, among many others. There was a playful streak, some joking around, some lightheartedness.
There was also musicianship and strong vocals. The Offspring ultimately rose to the top of the charts based on their consistent talent. They were always signed to independent record labels, if they weren't the executive producers themselves, but you wouldn't know it by the millions of albums they sold in their heyday.
In 1997, their work prompted the L.A. Times to describe them as "richly varied and thoroughly smart... a mature, sometimes daring and always enticing effort by a band that constantly offers far more than meets the ear."
Now The Offspring comes to Prince George along with special guests Canadian post-punk rock band Choke to open the show.
The Offspring and Choke are on P.G. turf for the first time when they unite at CN Centre on Tuesday night.
