Orange County Punks The Offspring landed in Ireland on Wednesday night [12 November 2025] bringing their 'Supercharged - Worldwide in '25' tour to Dublin's 3Arena. Taking with them a 'Gorilla Guy', fan cam, and a mountain of hit songs, it proved one of the most fun nights of the year.
Dexter Holland at Copenhell 2024. Photo; Adrian Hextall Mindhex Media
The Offspring know how to bring the party. It's accepted that this will happen as soon as the band hit the 3Arena's humongous stage, but twenty-five minutes before that things are already well underway.
It begins as support act Simple Plan take their bows. No sooner has singer Pierre Bouvier lamented their tardiness after playing their first gig in Ireland in 19 years, than 'Gorilla Guy' arrives. The Offspring's touring mascot and ringmaster, as the time ticks by and the roadies set up the main act's gear, he gets up to all manner of good natured shenanigans with the crowd.
What follows isn't the usual tedious wait, but an intermission party that has all the atmosphere of a US stadium ball game, complete karaoke, lookalike cam, headbanging, kiss, and 'fuck you' cams, competitions, and more.
With such genuinely engaging entertainment, the wait flies by, and by the time the countdown nears its end to what is now practically a national anthem - AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' - things are at fever pitch.
However when The Offspring do step on stage, there's an explosion of energy, and with 'Come Out and Play' kicking thigs off, it's a lesson in how to do things right. Where other stops on the tour have seen the 'White Guy' dork guest, here we get Jason 'Blackball' McLean - the OG Offspring superfan who delivered the "you gotta keep 'em separated" line on the song's studio recording.
It's a fantastic nostalgic nod, and following with the frenetic 'All I Want', and 'Want Your Bad' - which makes fantastic use of the huge video screens - the throwbacks just keep coming.
Never understated, guitarist Noodles is the first to greet the crowd. "Fuck yes, Dublin!", he declares; "this is the only city where somebody's going to hold up a sign that says 'Pints After?", he adds, after noticing some wag in the audience holding aloft a crudely scrawled on piece of cardboard.
Signalling the first of only two new songs from 2024's 'Supercharged', a pair of huge inflatable skeletons arrive to flank the stage as 'Looking Out For #1' begins. They'll later spew smoke into the air, and are a nice touch to the impressive stage production.
Breaking from the relentlessness of their own material, an extended covers section sees Noodles live out his Ozzy Osbourne fantasies. "It's been a tough couple of months for Ozzy and for Sabbath fans", he says following an on point 'Paranoid'; "Can we do one more?" The answer seems to be an emphatic "hell yeah", and with that, 'Crazy Train', launches, showcasing a perfect replication of Randy Rhoads' iconic solo from touring member Jonah Nimoy takes off.
Nimoy isn't the only one playing a blinder however, with front man Dexter Holland in fine form - both as singer and straight man during his and Noodles' off kilter banter - and newest member Brandon Pertzborn pounding the life out of the drums.
It's not all high energy though, and a stripped back piano version of 1997 hit 'Gone Away' follows. Encouraging the crowd to raise their phone torches in memory of someone who passed, Holland explains; "I wrote this song as a way to work through those feeling". The 'Ixnay on the Hombre' classic proves the centrepiece of the evening, and when the rest of the band join in and the pyro goes off, it's the most emotional moment of the night.
With faithful take on The Beatles' 'Hey Jude' out of the way, normal service is resumed, with anthem after anthem, in the Beatles-esque 'Why Don't You Get a Job?', number one hit 'Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)', and 'The Kids Aren't Alright' coming in rapid fire succession.
"You guys have been amazing", says Noodles as the night comes to an end; "this is one of those nights that you just never want it to end", with Holland simply adding; "what a night!".
In terms of bang for your buck, nobody does it better than The Offspring, and with a coveted headline slot closing out 2026's Hellfest, and their biggest ever UK show at London's Crystal Palace Park just announced for June, it seems the supercharged punks are far from done.
It begins as support act Simple Plan take their bows. No sooner has singer Pierre Bouvier lamented their tardiness after playing their first gig in Ireland in 19 years, than 'Gorilla Guy' arrives. The Offspring's touring mascot and ringmaster, as the time ticks by and the roadies set up the main act's gear, he gets up to all manner of good natured shenanigans with the crowd.
What follows isn't the usual tedious wait, but an intermission party that has all the atmosphere of a US stadium ball game, complete karaoke, lookalike cam, headbanging, kiss, and 'fuck you' cams, competitions, and more.
With such genuinely engaging entertainment, the wait flies by, and by the time the countdown nears its end to what is now practically a national anthem - AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' - things are at fever pitch.
However when The Offspring do step on stage, there's an explosion of energy, and with 'Come Out and Play' kicking thigs off, it's a lesson in how to do things right. Where other stops on the tour have seen the 'White Guy' dork guest, here we get Jason 'Blackball' McLean - the OG Offspring superfan who delivered the "you gotta keep 'em separated" line on the song's studio recording.
It's a fantastic nostalgic nod, and following with the frenetic 'All I Want', and 'Want Your Bad' - which makes fantastic use of the huge video screens - the throwbacks just keep coming.
Never understated, guitarist Noodles is the first to greet the crowd. "Fuck yes, Dublin!", he declares; "this is the only city where somebody's going to hold up a sign that says 'Pints After?", he adds, after noticing some wag in the audience holding aloft a crudely scrawled on piece of cardboard.
Signalling the first of only two new songs from 2024's 'Supercharged', a pair of huge inflatable skeletons arrive to flank the stage as 'Looking Out For #1' begins. They'll later spew smoke into the air, and are a nice touch to the impressive stage production.
Breaking from the relentlessness of their own material, an extended covers section sees Noodles live out his Ozzy Osbourne fantasies. "It's been a tough couple of months for Ozzy and for Sabbath fans", he says following an on point 'Paranoid'; "Can we do one more?" The answer seems to be an emphatic "hell yeah", and with that, 'Crazy Train', launches, showcasing a perfect replication of Randy Rhoads' iconic solo from touring member Jonah Nimoy takes off.
Nimoy isn't the only one playing a blinder however, with front man Dexter Holland in fine form - both as singer and straight man during his and Noodles' off kilter banter - and newest member Brandon Pertzborn pounding the life out of the drums.
It's not all high energy though, and a stripped back piano version of 1997 hit 'Gone Away' follows. Encouraging the crowd to raise their phone torches in memory of someone who passed, Holland explains; "I wrote this song as a way to work through those feeling". The 'Ixnay on the Hombre' classic proves the centrepiece of the evening, and when the rest of the band join in and the pyro goes off, it's the most emotional moment of the night.
With faithful take on The Beatles' 'Hey Jude' out of the way, normal service is resumed, with anthem after anthem, in the Beatles-esque 'Why Don't You Get a Job?', number one hit 'Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)', and 'The Kids Aren't Alright' coming in rapid fire succession.
"You guys have been amazing", says Noodles as the night comes to an end; "this is one of those nights that you just never want it to end", with Holland simply adding; "what a night!".
In terms of bang for your buck, nobody does it better than The Offspring, and with a coveted headline slot closing out 2026's Hellfest, and their biggest ever UK show at London's Crystal Palace Park just announced for June, it seems the supercharged punks are far from done.