The Offspring won’t stop entertaining you (Syracuse concert review, photos, setlist)

The Offspring have been performing for more than 35 years, but one thing may be true now more than ever: They won’t stop putting on a great show.

The alternative/punk rock band performed at the Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview in Syracuse on Tuesday night, drawing a crowd of more than 12,000. The concert also featured opening acts New Found Glory and Jimmy Eat World, plus a brief tribute to Ozzy Osbourne.

It felt a little bit like going to The Warped Tour, with three bands whose sounds and fanbases don’t fully overlap. The Amp appeared less than half-full during New Found Glory’s high-energy set that began at 7 p.m., and some left by the time The Offspring took the stage at 9.

But whenever your favorite artist was on stage, you were excited. The NFG crowd clapped and sang their pop-punk hearts out to every song, including hits “My Friends Over You” and “All Downhill From Here.” New Found Glory also showed they can still bust out a great guitar riff with new song “100%.”

rock show — New Found Glory opens for The Offspring during their SUPERCHARGED Worldwide in '25 tour at the Empower FCU Amphitheater Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Syracuse, N.Y. Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com

Another energy pop came when Jimmy Eat World took the stage at 7:50 p.m., combining power-pop with emo on the 2004 hit “Pain.” Bandleader Jim Adkins was flawless, looking and sounding almost exactly like he did 20-plus years ago — his guitar solos may be even stronger now.

It was especially fun to hear the crowd cheer for Adkins’ big “Yeah!” before the bridge in “Bleed American.” He also frequently opted to introduce songs by announcing how old they are (“This song’s from 1995!”) instead of titles.

Adkins didn’t play any slow songs, which meant the fan favorite “Hear You Me” was notably absent from the set list. It also meant learning (or remembering) that most Jimmy Eat World songs sound the same, though they finished strong with the catchy “Sweetness” and a note-for-note crowd-pleasing performance of the 2001 mega-hit “The Middle.”

The Offspring’s show started before they even took the stage. As soon as Jimmy Eat World wrapped, video screens began endlessly entertaining everyone with The Offspring trivia, an 8-bit “The Kids Aren’t Alright” video game, a “Take on Me” singalong, a T-shirt cannon, a mini-blimp, and shots of the audience on camera including a Headbang Cam, a Booty Cam, and a Kiss Cam (complete with a funny Coldplay reference).

Oh yeah, and there was also a mascot/hype man in a gorilla mask who started crowd-surfing in the pit. Like I said, it felt a little like The Warped Tour (which all three bands played multiple times in their heyday).

The Offspring kicked off their set perfectly with “Come Out and Play.” The 1994 song still slaps, even if you know its nerdy origin: Lead singer Dexter Holland, who has a PhD in molecular biology, would repeatedly say “gotta keep ‘em separated” to himself while working with petri dishes in a lab.

Holland, who still looks like a ‘90s California punk-rocker, was joined by co-founding guitarist Noodles, who still rocks a spiky skunk hairdo. It made it easy for a night of nostalgia that included catchy anthems like “Want You Bad,” “Original Prankster” (which uses the same song formula as “Come Out and Play”), and a cover of The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated.”

The Offspring briefly interrupted their set to acknowledge Osbourne, the Black Sabbath frontman who died earlier Tuesday. The band, including bassist Todd Morse, drummer Brandon Pertzborn and multi-instrumentalist Jonah Nimoy, played brief instrumental covers of “Iron Man” and “Crazy Train” to big cheers.

“God bless Black Sabbath. God bless Ozzy Osbourne,” Holland said.

There was also non-stop visual stimuli on stage, from video effects and backing animation to lights, sparks and a giant skeleton prop. Every song had something different happening, such as large beach balls during “Why Don’t You Get a Job?” to a GoPro camera on Holland’s guitar at one point. Even new song “Looking Out for #1″ was accompanied by lightning graphics keeping in theme with the tour (and The Offspring’s most recent album) name, “Supercharged.”

It all made the night’s only ballad, a piano-driven version of “Gone Away,” stand out even more. The crowd showed its appreciation with a sea of cell phone lights.

The Offspring quickly returned to rocking, however, with a trio of hits from 1998’s “Americana” album, including “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)” and “The Kids Aren’t Alright.” They briefly left the stage before an encore that wrapped the night perfectly with “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” and “Self Esteem.”

See the bands’ setlists and more photos from the show below: