The Offspring are pretty fly (for a 40-year-old act)

The Offspring proved punk is still alive and well with Tuesday’s 2025 Supercharge Tour stop in Syracuse. 

The Southern California band that gained popularity alongside other skate punk acts in the ‘90s for their zany MTV videos brought plenty of youthful playfulness to the Empower FCU Amphitheater stage between a gorilla mascot, beach balls and oversized inflatables. 

The evening of antics kicked off with fellow Warped Tour alum New Found Glory who showed their most energetic punk spirit on tracks such as “My Friends Over You” and “Understatement.” During “Hit or Miss,” lead singer Jordan Pundik jumped off stage and made his way into the pit where fans reached out in hopes of a high five or fist bump. 

Jimmy Eat World followed with even more recognizable hits like “The Middle,” “Bleed American,” and “Sweetness” that continued to warm up the thousands who had filled the Amp. The Arizona band blended sweet harmonies on “A Praise Chorus” behind the gritty rockstar vocals of  Jim Adkins, who reminded the crowd near the close of the band’s 45-minute set that “tonight’s gonna be all about what you wanna make it.”

While waiting for The Offspring to take the stage, fans were entertained with nearly a half hour of intermission activities. The jumbotrons played animations of neon blue skeletons and a Mario-themed game video of band members fighting bad guys to the tune of “The Kids Aren’t Alright.” An Offspring-themed blimp rode throughout the pavilion while a gorilla-masked guy flung T-shirts into the crowd. 

By the end of the intermission, the audience was fully amped when the half-man/half-gorilla returned to stage dive in the pit before The Offspring launched into their hit “Come Out and Play.”

It didn’t take long for the crowd to embrace the Offspring’s energetic show — or the 15-foot blow-up skeleton torso on stage — but when fast-paced “Bad Habit” started, the packed standing area turned into a mosh pit, putting a smile on the lead singer Dexter Holland’s face.

Holland gave nods to his bandmates – bassist Todd Morse, guitarist/keyboardist Jonah Nimoy  and drummer Brandon Pertzborn – but most notably guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman, having played together for four decades.

“If you look past the angelic voices, you’ll see a spark of mischievousness behind their eyes,” Holland said to bandmate Noodles.

Between songs Noodles and Holland amped fans up with a call and response of obscenities before taking a more poignant moment to acknowledge the passing of metal legend Ozzy Osbourne earlier in the day. Among fans, the Offspring’s own band tees were only rivaled by the Ozzy ones.

“One of the best things I ever heard Ozzy Osbourne say was he didn’t want to come up with riffs that impressed guitar players,” Noodles said. “He wanted to come up with riffs that made the little kid next door want to pick up a guitar.”

Noodles honored the godfather of metal by playing riffs from Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” and Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” with solos by Nimoy. 

The Offspring returned to their regular scheduled programming with a cover of the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated,” featuring the gorilla mascot running around on stage yet again. 

As if the intermission entertainment, gorilla and blow-up skeleton torso weren’t enough, the band brought out massive beach balls for “Why Don’t You Get a Job?” and inflatable tube men for “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy).”

The Offspring closed out their 90-minute set with a few of their biggest hits, “The Kids Aren’t Alright,” “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” and “Self Esteem,” before sending home thousands of satisfied fans with hoarse voices and laughing about the night of punk rock fun they had come out for.