August 5th, 2026
The Offspring play to a sold out crowd at MTelus
Coming off their Supercharged Worldwide Stadium Tour, The Offspring were back to visit Quebec for a string of outdoor festivals and smaller, intimate shows. MTelus was looking to be the hottest ticket in town tonight, as the band was set to play on their Only the Punk Stuff Tour.
This show was sold out within five minutes – to those who were lucky and managed to score tickets, and to those who were searching for some last-minute ones. The Offspring ensured tickets were sold at a reasonable face value or exchange. With scalpers still trying to profit at every avenue, maybe it’s time for bands to do this more, especially if they have the power to influence change.
See Also: Social Distortion at Mtelus, Montreal
Last time I caught The Offspring live was over ten years ago at the infamous Montebello Rockfest. Playing full albums Americana and Ixnay On The Hombre to festival goers in the muddy, piss-fields (You had to have been there to know what I’m getting at, and if you were, you’ll never forget it! Like me!). Revisiting the best punk titles off those albums, in a more intimate, drier setting, was something I was looking forward to. So much so that I joined my best friend, her daughter, and her friend and mother for the wait in line. I arrived later, but they spent the full afternoon, getting there at one o’clock in the afternoon, opting to secure the best barrier spots, and also be first ones in.
This was a rare general admission, all-ages show, so no balcony seats unless you braved the early lineup. The wise ones know the tricks. An experience we had as teens now passed down to a new generation who are way more resourceful than we ever were; I guess all the stories of our under-preparedness worked. When the doors opened, the running began, and most people were going upstairs. The teens managed to get the barrier for the full experience, no photo pit or room for security.
General Chaos
Added to warm up the crowd were local youngsters in General Chaos. Building their fanbase quite rapidly since their debut in twenty twenty-two, winning over the locals all over town. Not long after, they were getting signed to Stomp Records and were now going from playing Pouzzafest’s main stage to recently securing the opening spot for Goldfinger.
These young punks must have been on cloud nine after finding that out. You could see them starting with a bit of nervous energy, to be playing for this mostly older crowd. From where I was, I couldn’t hear their vocals, so I could only say they put in the best effort. The crowd seemed to respond well to them by practicing their stage diving, inciting just the beginning of this general chaos.
It’s worth mentioning that kids are only sixteen years old! Too young to really know what they’re singing about but hey, so what.
Thick Glasses
Joining them to bridge the gap between groups was local Francophone indie punk band Thick Glasses. Active since 2018 and having played the main festival circuit here, such as the Rock La Cause festival, Pouzza Fest, and Les Francos (Which is a Francophone music festival for anybody from around these here parts).
It was their turn to step up into this big opportunity. With a few releases in tow, they had much to offer with a heavier metal-influenced shoegaze sound. Versatility is always good when trying to win over a new audience. I really enjoyed their energy and hearing something new. Maybe not fully comprehending the lyrics, though fully bilingual, it was again down to a more muffled sound. They ended a short set with one English song, called Doggo.
The Offspring
As the change-up was going pretty fast between bands, there wasn’t even much time to get in and out of the crowd by this point. A lot of balcony dwellers had come downstairs, ready to start the pit up. Well-rested and eager to dance to the soothing sounds of The Offspring.
Beginning strong with Session and We Are One, setting the tone for the crowd, who were ready to completely push the no barrier concept to its limit. It became an endless sea of surfing, backflipping, and general diving off the open stage. To any photographers who dared to get in the crowd, it was no easy feat. The ever-growing pit had already opened up all the way to the back of the floor.
The Offspring played seven songs off the Ignition album, including a first-time performance of Nothing From Something for the first time since two thousand eighteen. It was fun to hear the older stuff mixed in with newer tunes. Such as a debut live performance of Breaking These Bones off the Let The Good Times Roll record.
I was so elated that singer Dexter Holland and the rest of the band had their proper sound guy tonight. The first two openers weren’t very clear. I don’t know how it sounded from the back; up front, the backing vocals were taken care of by the crowd singing every word. Each city got variations on the setlist, with rarer deep cuts. We got songs they haven’t played since the beginning of their career. Going back to their self-titled release from nineteen eighty-nine, we got to hear Crossroads , A Thousand Days and Beheaded.
At sixty years old, and committing to playing close to a two-hour set most nights, Holland still has the range to hit those higher notes that made the band famous. Whether you were a long-time fan or discovering them live for the first time, the set covered the best for each generation. In my opinion, we could have used more of the Smash album besides just Smash and Nitro. But I guess curating a certain punk set doesn’t always leave room to be too picky; it was a solid list.
They took a brief intermission (Yeah! Intermission!) to catch their breath, but the show hardly slowed down. Even when they played Dirty Magic, the audience’s pace didn’t waver. Lots of teens and younger kids got their chance to dive off the stage and surf. The teens in General Chaos took their change whole watching from the stage to dive right in.
Most of us did our best to facilitate them being safe. Lead guitarist Noodles, a nickname given to him for all his noodling around on guitar, was very actively watching, with a bit of disapproval showing on his face of how dangerous it was at certain points. Being a father, it was just instinct kicking in – full dad mode.
It was still as unpredictable as a show like that could get. The exhaustion for those at the front who had to be on guard to avoid getting kicked in the head was setting in fast. By that point we were all running on pure adrenaline, fans and band alike. I was holding tight to the barrier to not get pulled down by those actively trying to grab shoulders to get hoisted up to the band’s level. Some fans made it right to Holland and bandmates for a selfie or to try to get a chance to sing along. The band’s security knew they couldn’t just throw anyone back in without risk. So most scenarios were left to play out and naturally resolve. (They chose not to have the photo pit barrier after all! Consequences!)
As much as the Quebec scene loves them for the most obvious hits, like Pretty Fly For A White Guy, that isn’t a punk song. Perfect example tonight and at most of their shows: there were fans dressed up like the fly guy in the video for that song. You can really tell the difference from when a band is just running through the motions with certain overplayed hits, and they weren’t doing that for us whatsoever this evening.
It was more natural exhaustion from the amount of effort they were giving to the lesser-played older songs. Feeding off the frenzied energy Montreal was giving to them, we had a few cheering ovations as they thanked us for being the craziest audience so far. We need an official award for the number of bands that say that; it would make it more legit and bolster our bragging rights that much more. The band also challenged us on our Ole! Ole! chants this time, by playing the full song for us, simultaneously preparing us for Habs hockey season.
Wrapping up tonight’s twenty-four song setlist with All I Want, only one of two, from the album Ixnay On The Hombre this time around. Then three fan favorites from Americana. Pay The Man, Staring At The Sun, and finishing with The Kids Aren’t Alright. Which, by all accounts, I think kids were perfectly alright. The Offspring were too.
Read More:
>> Goldfinger at Beanfield Theater, Montreal
>> Bloc Party at Beanfield Theatre, Montreal
>> Coheed And Cambria at Hard Rock Live, Ottawa
The band gave out their setlists and many custom guitar pics by launching them into the crowd, with everyone eagerly taking one last dive at a chance of obtaining them. That was probably more dangerous than anything. Luckily, all my group of girls managed to score some.
We can argue forever about what punk is, if The Offspring are or not, or we can soak these moments in and appreciate it for what it represents to us. No matter our age, I think after hearing a nostalgic set like that, we all became kids at heart for a couple hours. For those close to me, it was a healing experience to hear and get to be that close to the band. I toughed it out this time in the chaos of this unique, curated event that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. My body won’t let me after the adrenaline slowly wore off today.
