Edmonton, AB – 10-11 Aug 2024
NOFX hits The Chuck one last time
The party started early as photographer Kaelina Hall and I crossed security and settled at our flight gate in the modest Kamloops, British Columbia airport. We instantly ran into a fellow traveler en route to NOFX‘s final shows in Edmonton, Alberta.
Our excited pre-party banter caused several people around us to get up and find seats much further away from us, but it also served to attract yet another punk fan to join us. We picked up 2 more new friends on our connecting flight from Calgary to Edmonton, further bolstering the group. This would become a theme for the weekend. Punk rock has a way of bringing people together, and this was apparent as we all smashed beers and tequila at the airport bar in Edmonton upon our arrival.
The show was held at the “Fan Park” of Rogers Place, the home stadium of the Edmonton Oilers. The Fan Park itself is a sprawling blacktop parking lot that used to house a social services center. Most of the punk rock shows that we go to are in poorly lit bars and clubs forgotten by time, but as we approached the front gate we found ourselves nestled between gleaming commercial skyscrapers, including two of the largest buildings in Western Canada.
These massive buildings, including the arena (and the hockey team itself) are mostly owned by the Katz Group, a “privately owned enterprise” helmed by “one of Canada’s most successful business leaders” Daryl Katz who is known to dabble in sports, film and tv, real estate, hospitality, retail cannabis, and on and on.
The glass behemoths towered over us, reflecting light and sound in a way that made us ask “Where the fuck is the entrance”?
A searing clorox stench of gentrification hung thick in the air as we entered the festival and made our way to the beer counter. I heard the “VRR, VRR , VRR” of a vibrating smart watch on a fellow patron’s wrist. He looked down, exclaiming “Holy shit, my bank says that DISNEY just charged me for these beers!” A whole new world indeed.
We missed the Real Sickies set, but according to the CBC employee who announced them, they are Green Day’s favorite band!
The Adolescents are older now, but they thrashed about the stage with the vigor of 5 much younger men. As we witnessed our first band of the two-day California invasion, it was mentioned that they sounded much better live than on their earlier recordings. It may have something to do with the fact that their first record came out 43 years ago in 1981.
They sounded amazing as they banged out all their hits including “Amoeba”. The crowd was singing along, and I think some of them may have been replacing the titular chorus lyric with “TONNNNYY HAWWWWK”
Next up were the Circle Jerks. Daddy Long-Dreads Keith Morris snottily snarled songs spanning their career through gritted teeth, adding between songs “You are gonna leave here today saying to yourself, those Keith Morris lyrics are the best”. Guitarist Greg Hetson looked cool as fuck as he banged away on his Gibson SG guitar from a lowered stance, and the audience bursted into crowd surfing as they played “When the Shit Hits the Fan”.
On that note, I would like to give it up to the unsung heroes of this event, the overwhelmed front of stage security. The way the stage was set up, people were crowd surfing from the back of the crowd towards the front where the 10 hi-vis clad security guards would attempt to reach up to the canopy of the crowd, taking the full weight of each individual crowd surfer as they attempted to cradle them down to the ground un-injured.
I am certain that each one of those guards took multiple boots and elbows to the face over the course of the day. They looked agitated by this, and there were a few awkward moments where they may have gone into fight or flight mode after getting un-intentionally smashed about the face and neck by crowd surfers. I wonder how much they get paid per hour?
The heat in the parking lot was oppressive, with highs of 28 celsius (82.4 fahrenheit) being amplified by the blacktop and mirrored hi-rises surrounding the stage. There was no shade anywhere during the day except for between the perimeter fence and the trailer style honey buckets. So that’s where we took refuge in between bands. We considered bringing in an umbrella for shade, but the festival rules prohibited that. Probably a public safety issue.
At some point in the day the honey buckets backed up, creating a 3 inch lake on the floor and totally soaking the inside of my shoes as I entered. I wonder how much of that water was pee.
We ran into fellow Canadian musician MR. AWESOME, and he told us the story of how he had his nose cut off at a punk show in the 2000s. But you will have to ask him about that one.
The Interrupters took the stage like a hurricane, opening with the anthemic “Gave You Everything”. These relative newcomers really know how to rock the shit out of a stage. The rhythm section consisting of twin brothers Justin and Jesse Bivona had their shared birthday the day before, and they celebrated with a crowd participation “Happy Birthday”, before brother Kevin Bivona regaled them with a ripping Van Halen style tapping guitar solo. Nice.
Singer Aimee Interrupter prefaced “Jenny Drinks”, saying that it was Fat Mike’s favorite song. I contemplated the Interrupters’ accessible sound as I watched an Oilers hat make seven return trips high into the air.
Speaking of throwing shit, our fearless photographer was positioned in the photo pit directly in front of the stage when she was smoked in the back of the head by a hurled shoe, to which she later quipped “Jokes on them, I’m taking this with me. Enjoy the walk home, chump!”
The beer tents switched from cans to plastic cups just before NOFX played each night, and I think you can guess why.
We caught the first 3 NOFX songs (which sounded great) before taking off as it had been a long day. As we wandered away from the festival, we noticed an absence of music and someone on stage vamping for about 15 minutes. It turns out that the crowd had torn down the barrier in front of the stage. Later we saw videos of stage managers pleading with the crowd to the tune of “You have to let us fix this thing, or the show is over!” Apparently they worked it all out, and at some point NOFX played “Linoleum”.
The next day we returned to the Descendents blasting through twenty blistering songs, showcasing their lengthy tenure. They did however make a small detour, playing some proggy sounding songs that were unknown to me, but smacked of Canada’s own Rush.
As I took in some of my personal favorite songs like “Nothing With You” and later on “I’m The One” with my friends and loved ones, a single tear dropped into my beer when we saw a red mohawk-clad 10 year old being surfed to the front. Ya love to see it.
I made a trip through the meticulously uniform maze of pink and blue porta johns (it was actually quite beautiful) , stopping to corner and punish some new friends who were very nice and patient.
NOFX took the stage and a sea of voices erupted with fists pumping to every memorized lyric. Fat Mike commented after the first song “This is already way better than last night”. He also mentioned that he was sober the first night, but any implied inebriants must have altered only his perception, not his ability to play. The whole band was on fire.
They blasted through a barrage of hits like “Dinosaurs Will Die”, “Bob” & “Soul Doubt” all the while taking the piss out of the crowd by intentionally switching up lyrics from other songs, keeping us on the balls of our feet. Fat Mike repeatedly proclaimed his love for Face to Face bassist Scott Schiflett.
They pumped through some newer material with an explanation of “Now we’re gonna play our best but least popular songs”, before winding down with more fan favorites and singalongs. The band finished, put down their instruments and said “We’ll be back in 5 to 7 minutes”.
The tension was palpable as they played through the first 4 songs of their encore. For many of us in attendance, this would be the last time we would ever see NOFX. Were they gonna play it? They had to play it, right?
The crowd ascended to a new level as Erik “Smelly” Sandin launched into the tell tale hi hat roll at the start of their 18 minute epic “The Decline”, the soundtrack to our collective descent.
My friend was singing so loud that people were giving him dirty looks and moving further away from our 2 person mosh pit on the fringe of the crowd. Ya love to see it.
A hail storm of shoes barraged the stage until the last note of the song, as if to say “So long and thanks for all of these”
The SO-CAL punk rock sound has inspired generations of punk rock fans to create a community for themselves, and it was no less apparent on this night.
NOFX SUNDAY AUG 11 2024 EDMONTON ALBERTA SETLIST
Intro played from tape “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” by Lopez & Marx
- Dinosaurs Will Die
- Stickin’ in My Eye
- Murder the Government
- Bob
- Falling in Love
- Quart in Session
- Six Pack Girls
- Soul Doubt
- Kids of the K-Hole
- Day to Daze
- I Love You More Than I Hate Me
- Don’t Call Me White
- I Believe in Goddess
- It’s My Job to Keep Punk Rock Elite
- Mattersville
- Eat the Meek
- 180 Degrees
- We Called It America
- Please Play This Song on the Radio
- Green Corn
- Johnny Appleseed
ENCORE
22. The Separation of Church and Skate 23. Timmy the Turtle
24. Champs-Elysees
25. Reeko
26. The Decline
Tyler Hall is a dude from Canada. Despite being in his thirties, he continues to play in a punk rock band like an angsty teenager.
