The night my early punk rock soul jumped back a decade (or two) came when The Offspring’s tour, with New Found Glory and Jimmy Eat World stopped by Target Center in Minneapolis Friday night.
These bands have lived rent-free in my head for years, yet I realized I couldn’t name a recent album from any of them. Still, I can rattle off their biggest tracks from the late ’90s and early ’00s. I guess you’d call them classics now. Most of those songs are 15–20 years old.
It had been nearly two decades since I last saw New Found Glory or Jimmy Eat World. I didn’t forget about the Offspring; I never saw them live. Back then, I was a 13-year-old kid getting tossed around in the pit, barely able to see over the crowd, elbowed, sweated on, and choking on cigarette smoke.
At the time, I didn’t even understand what a mosh pit was, and it was a trial by fire into live music. I remember stumbling home looking like I’d been dragged through a pull tab cover floor dive bar, while my parents exchanged sarcastic “Parents of the Year” looks.
A lot has changed since then, and for these bands. They’ve clearly sharpened their craft, and their Target Center sets showed it.
New Found Glory kicked off the night with a wave of emo-punk nostalgia. They opened with “Understatement” and tore through “All Downhill From Here” before closing with the crowd favorite “My Friends Over You.”
Hearing those songs took me back to high school, when I was one of the few kids who owned (okay, pirated) their Sticks and Stones album. It lived on repeat on my third-gen iPod, the soundtrack of being looked at sideways for leaning into pop-punk.
New Found Glory sounded as tight as they did on the record, making their set a pure memory-lane moment.
If New Found Glory brought the nostalgia, Jimmy Eat World delivered the sing-along spectacular of the night. They opened with “Pain” from Futures, worked through tracks from Chase This Light, and closed with the anthems “Sweetness” and “The Middle” from Bleed American.
Between songs, lead singer Jim Adkins tried his hand at some offbeat, rambling humor that landed more as WTF than funny. If any comedians are reading this, reach out to Jim. He’s got potential; he just needs a masterclass in punchlines. Regardless, when he leaned back into the mic to belt out the hits, the whole arena was right there with him.
Finally, The Offspring stormed the stage with pure chaos and energy. They opened with “Come Out and Play” and “All I Want,” fueled by inflatable props, wild stage lights, and even a monkey mascot crowd-surfing.
At one point, lead singer Dexter Holland and lead guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman bantered about covers before breaking into snippet tributes: Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” Edvard Grieg, and The Ramones. Then the mood shifted, stagehands rolled out a piano with ease for a stripped-down, heartfelt version of “Gone Away.” Dexter opened up about grief and loss, creating a rare moment of quiet amid the chaos.
But it wouldn’t be an Offspring show without their rowdy sing-alongs. The set snapped back into full throttle with “Why Don’t You Get a Job?” and “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy),” before the encore finale of “Self Esteem.”
What struck me most is how timeless these songs have become. Whether it’s New Found Glory’s “My Friends Over You,” Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle,” or The Offspring’s “Pretty Fly,” these tracks transport you right back to where you first heard them. For me, it was hearing “Pretty Fly” on the school bus or being sweated on through “Bleed American” at my first shows.
The Target Center gig wasn’t just a concert; it was a reminder of why these bands defined an era and why those chaotic, sweaty, smoke-filled nights still feel like some of the best times of my life.
