The Offspring & Bad Religion Supercharge Montreal at Centre Bell [Photos]

Punk rock heavyweights The Offspring and Bad Religion played the Centre Bell in Montreal this Saturday night. They invited the whole city to come out and play. Their fans certainly did just that. Setting a new attendance record of 2,315,068 people. A record that they then beat moments later when Noodles announced that three children had just been born inside the famous arena. While I don’t want to dispute his math skills, I think that Bob Barker may have said he was over when it came to the crowd size.

“The Supercharged Worldwide ‘26 Tour” may not have drawn over two million people, but it was a sell-out. The crowd was very vocal all night. “This is why we love coming here!” shouted singer Dexter Holland to the crowd as roars of applause cascaded into waves of olé, olé, olés. It was a Saturday night in Montreal, and everyone in the building was there for a party.

That is exactly what they got. The show opened with a kick ass presentation from Bad Religion. These punk rock veterans still remain a force on stage and wasted little time reminding us all. Opening with “Recipe For Hate,” Bad Religion got the crowd up and hopping right away. The jumping and raised fists continued with “Them and Us” as it became increasingly difficult to get some clear shots of the band from our outpost at the soundboard.

Unbothered by my obstructed view, the fans continued to party through the entire set. Singer Greg Graffin sounded terrific, and the band played everything sharp and loud. Each song had a video that played on the giant screen behind the band. That really added to the presentation. From the opening song all the way through to “American Jesus,” Bad Religion showed that there is still a lot of power under their hood. What a great way to open the evening.

The fans were given a few minutes of reprieve between the acts, but not very many. An Offspring blimp circled the arena, imploring the fans to participate in various ‘cam’ activities. A very active gorilla pumped up the crowd and also escorted a couple of lucky fans to their new spot in front of the stage.

As the video wall countdown hit zero, the band appeared on the stage and immediately blasted into The Offspring classic, “Come Out and Play,” sending the already worked-up crowd into a frenzy. “All I Want” and “Want You Bad” quickly followed as the crowd sang along to everything that the band was offering. “Québec, you rock!” shouted guitarist Noodles to the crowd. On this night, there was nobody who would dare to argue that point.

The party continued with over 20 songs comprising most of The Offspring’s greatest hits. A mid-show interlude paid tribute to Ozzy Osbourne. It finished with a great cover of “I Wanna Be Sedated” by The Ramones. A piano would later be wheeled out for a cover of “Hey Jude.” Just after the entire building had been illuminated with cell phone lights for a very emotional version of “Gone Away.”

This show unquestionably had it all. Video walls, streamers and inflatable skulls. Beach balls, a gigantic Québec flag, the Pretty Fly White Guy and his own Wacky Waving Inflatable Fly Guys. Not to mention the great selection of songs. An encore of “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” and “Self-Esteem” brought the night to a thunderous end.

Without a doubt, The Offspring and Bad Religion had rocked the place to the ground. Oops, that’s the other “Gunter glieben glauchen globen” song. This leg of “The Supercharged World Wide Tour” has come to an end, but what a show it was.