CONCERT REVIEW: The Offspring Rock A Sold-out Ziggo Dome

On Friday night, November 7, the American punk rock band The Offspring performed at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam.

When I walked in, it was immediately clear that the crowd was very mixed. People of all ages were there, and the venue was packed. Completely sold out.

As soon as the show started, some visuals appeared on the big screens before the band members came on stage. The audience was instantly excited. They opened with “Come Out and Play,” “All I Want,” and “Want You Bad.”

After a few songs, two huge inflatable skeletons suddenly appeared on stage, forming a big part of the decor, along with the screens behind the band. On both sides of the stage, there were projections filmed by cameras placed all around the venue, even above the stage, capturing the mosh pits from every angle.

There were several mosh pits throughout the evening. Because of the ones in the middle, you could see that some people up front were being pushed against the barricade. There were also a few crowd surfers who were caught perfectly by the security guards in front of the stage.

At one point, the band took a moment to take it all in. Standing in front of a sold-out Ziggo Dome isn’t nothing, and they talked about that for a bit. The interaction with the crowd was really fun too. There were a few moments where the audience had to sing back lines after the band.

After that short break, they played a few covers, including “Paranoid” (Black Sabbath), “Crazy Train” (Ozzy Osbourne), “In the Hall of the Mountain King” (Edvard Grieg) and “I Wanna Be Sedated” (Ramones). During the last one, a man with a gorilla mask came on stage holding up a sign that said “I Wanna Be Sedated.”

At some point, I noticed a few more people on stage. Two of the band members’ daughters had climbed up to watch part of the show from behind one of the skeletons. It was really cute, and you could see the crew keeping an eye on them the whole time.

“Gotta Get Away” ended with a drum solo. During that solo, some of the crew came on stage to take down the skeletons. Then a piano was brought forward, and the stage started to fill with smoke. Singer Dexter Holland sat down and told a story. He said he was going to play an old song that he wrote at a time when he had lost someone close to him. He asked everyone to turn on their phone lights during “Gone Away” as a tribute to the people we’ve lost. It was a emotional moment.

After that, they suddenly started playing “Hey Jude” by The Beatles. The whole atmosphere immediately lightened up again, and everyone was smiling.

Near the end of the show, the most well-known songs were played, like “Why Don’t You Get a Job?” During that song, a bunch of huge beach balls were thrown into the crowd. It looked great from above, although the security guards at the front were busy bouncing them back into the crowd all the time.

Then they played “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)”, and suddenly four inflatable tube men popped up on stage. You know, the wobbly ones you always see at car washes.

The band ended the night with “The Kids Aren’t Alright”, followed by “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” and “Self Esteem” as the encore.

I really enjoyed the show. Musically it was strong, and the interaction with the crowd was great. It was also nice to see how much fun they were having on stage. It did feel a bit chaotic here and there, but not in a bad way. I did think it was a little unfortunate that the biggest hits only came at the end. The audience was excited all night, but when those songs started, they went absolutely crazy. Then again, they always say it’s best to end on a high note.