The Offspring and The Maine party with Chargers fans outside SoFi Stadium

The afternoon of Sunday, Aug. 8, was special for Orange County rock band The Offspring. It was the band’s first live show since March 15, 2020 and the opportunity to debut new music off of its

long-awaited 10th studio album, “Let the Bad Times Roll,”

which was released April 16.

“I’m trying to censor myself because I want to cuss out of pure joy … that was the first time we ever played that song live!” guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman said after ripping through the new album’s title track in front of a few thousand enthusiastic fans in the American Airlines Plaza, just outside SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

The band played a free show as part of iHeartMedia Los Angeles’ ALT 98.7 FM and the Los Angeles Chargers FanFest at the stadium. Though the show was free — and hosted by the station’s “The Woody Show” and featured DJ Scotty Fox in between sets — fans did have to sign up in advance for tickets to keep the attendance limited. Masks were not mandatory, though numerous patrons still sported them.

The Offspring performs during ALT 98.7’s Come Out and Play event outside of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, August 8, 2021. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

John O’Callaghan of The Maine performs during ALT 98.7’s Come Out and Play event outside of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, August 8, 2021. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Dexter Holland of The Offspring performs during ALT 98.7’s Come Out and Play event outside of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, August 8, 2021. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

The Offspring performs during ALT 98.7’s Come Out and Play event outside of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, August 8, 2021. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

The Maine performs during ALT 98.7’s Come Out and Play event outside of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, August 8, 2021. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Fans of the Offspring cheer during their performance outside of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, August 8, 2021. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

ALT 98.7’s Come Out and Play event outside of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, August 8, 2021. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Fans of the Offspring cheer during their performance outside of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, August 8, 2021. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

The Maine performs during ALT 98.7’s Come Out and Play event outside of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, August 8, 2021. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

The Offspring performs during ALT 98.7’s Come Out and Play event outside of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, August 8, 2021. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Fans of The Maine dance and cheer during their performance outside of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, August 8, 2021. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

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“This is so exciting,”

Lisa Worden, vice president of rock and alternative for iHeartMedia and program director for ALT 98.7 FM

, said. “I didn’t know what I’d be walking into today, like are people going to show up? It feels really good. I was in my office and talking to Woody and some of the team and we were like, ‘Should we do a party for people?’ Granted, we planned this before the Delta variant was raging, but we thought we could still do it and people are here and they’re masked up. I think both of these bands are going to be amazing and they both want to be safe and take precautions but I think they’re so stoked to be here.”

The Offspring’s set was pretty much all killer, no filler with hits coming fast and furious from a band that was clearly ready to face the masses once again. The set kicked off with “Self Esteem” and moved into “Come Out and Play,” with vocalist Dexter Holland’s voice in peak form. “All I Want” got the crowd stirring and mini mosh pits of three or four people broke out. The band dusted off “Original Prankster” and, of course, hit everyone with “Bad Habit” to give the audience the chance to blow off some pent-up energy by screaming out a series of curse words in the song.

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Offspring also offered “The Opioid Diaries” off the new album and Noodles was able to showcase his chops by playing a warp speed version of Edvard Grieg’s classical song “In the Hall of the Mountain King” on guitar. They finished off the set with “Why Don’t You Get a Job?,” “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy),” and Noodles donned a personalized Chargers’ jersey for the encore which included “You’re Gonna Go Far Kid” and “The Kids Aren’t Alright.”

There’s been a shakeup more recently in the Offspring line-up with longtime bassist Greg Kriesel out and touring guitarist Todd Morse stepping in. On Sunday, Vandals’ drummer Josh Freese was a last-minute replacement for Pete Parada,

who announced a mutual parting of ways on social media on Aug. 2

after Parada said he decided against getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

Sunday’s opening act, Arizona rock band

The Maine

, had a lot of fun with the crowd. The group, which played as part of the Sad Summer Fest at City National Grove of Anaheim on Saturday, performed a couple tracks off its new album, “XOXO: From Love and Anxiety in Real Time,” including “Sticky” and “Pretender.” They also did their hit “Black Butterflies and Déjà Vu” and a

fun Rihanna cover

The band was so energetic and got the people, most of which had no idea who they were, dancing and participating in the set. The biggest moment came when a flying beetle crash landed on stage and wound up in vocalist John O’Callaghan’s hand. He jokingly said he would eat it if someone dared him and then handed off to an audience member who proceeded to eat the bug to a roar of cheers that ended in “ewwwwwws.”

“I’m a vegetarian, so I wasn’t about to eat that thing,” he said during an interview after the show, noting it will be a moment he’ll never forget. “One single tear fell down my face when he ate it. as if this entire atmosphere wasn’t crazy enough … that was wild.”

The Maine has been a band for 15 years, but is just now starting to enjoy some more mainstream success. O’Callaghan and bassist Garrett Nickelsen said it was an honor to get to open for The Offspring.

“I am pumped and was kind of geeking out over their setlist,” O’Callaghan said.

“We woke up at 10 a.m. to sound check and I hear a kick drum and I run over there and all of their stuff was up and the set list was up and I was like ‘John, look what they’re playing,’” Nickelsen said. “Like every song is a hit!”

Coming out of lockdown and heading back out on tour is exciting, the guys said, but things are different. They’re not able to go and meet the fans face to face and are gauging excitement over the new material based on audience reaction alone.

“This feels completely normal, but also since we’ve been adults we haven’t really had that amount of time at home ever,” Nickelsen said. “We started touring when we were 17 and having been at home for almost two years without doing a show was crazy. But as soon as you get on the bus, it’s like, ‘Oh this smells the same. Everybody stinks!’”

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