They've been around since 1984, when they were founded under the name Manic Subsidal, but The Offspring spent a lot of time working in the punk rock trenches, slowly but surely climbing whatever rungs of the ladder were available to them, until they finally hit the big time – or some approximation thereof – after signing to Epitaph Records. After getting some attention with their first album for the label (and their second album overall), 1992’s Ignition, they exploded commercially with their appropriately-titled next album, Smash, which not only hit #4 on the Billboard 200 but has since has gone platinum six times over.
Long story short, the 30th anniversary of Smash is a perfectly legitimate reason to celebrate, which is why the Offspring have announced a concert to celebrate the occasion, scheduled for June 1 at the Honda Center in Orange County, California.
The official poster for the 30th anniversary celebration of The Offspring's 'Smash' album
The show will find the band playing Smash in its entirety, of course, but they vow to also throw in some of their other hits in the process of putting together the set list.
“We’ve got some celebrating to do in Orange County,” the band said in a press release. “Look out Honda Center…we’re coming for you!”
An artist pre-sale will begin on Tuesday, December 12th (access code SMASH30) in advance of the general on-sale slated for Thursday, December 14th via Ticketmaster. A limited amount of special $30 tickets will be available.
Singer Dexter Holland of The Offspring performs at Rock in Roma, Italy in 2017
Smash spawned three major US alternative radio hits upon release: “Come Out and Play” (#1), “Self-Esteem” (#4), and “Gotta Get Away” (#6). All three singles were certified gold.
“These songs are still so fun to play,” Offspring guitarist Noodles told The Press-Telegram. “They don’t seem like 30-year-old songs to us. We really do love all of the songs and whenever we’re connecting with an audience, there’s no feeling in the world like that.”
For the record, the band’s hit-single trend continued throughout the ‘90s, with their cover of The Damned’s “Smash It Up” for the Batman Forever soundtrack, “All I Want” (#13) and “Gone Away” (#4) from 1997’s Ixnay on the Hombre, and “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)” (#3), “Why Don’t You Get a Job?” (#4), “The Kids Aren’t Alright” (#6), and “She’s Got Issues” (#11), all of which were from 1998’s Americana. In fact, every album that the band has released since Smash has spawned at least one top-20 alternative radio hit. Their most recent album, 2021’s Let the Band Times Roll, features three such tracks: “Coming for You” (#16), the title track (#10), and “Behind Your Walls” (#19).
In other words, The Offspring has a lot of hits to choose from when it comes to filling out the post-Smash portion of the set list on June 1.
