The Offspring, Sum 41, and Simple Plan- Let The Bad Times Roll

At the end of august, I headed back to the suburbs to see a show by my favorite dad rock bands that I listened to growing up. The concert was in the Tinley Park Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre and it was absolutely a blast. I have never seen a bigger turnout for a concert. This show was for The Offspring’s Let The Bad Times Roll tour, so they were the headliners. This was a part of the second leg of their tour from August to September. These bands have all been performing for upwards of 20 years, and you can tell how experienced they are.

This was my first time at the venue and I thought it was a really good one. I usually am not a huge fan of outdoor venues, so I was a little skeptical, but it was really spacious and had a really great sound system. We had lawn seats and I was pretty far, but I could still hear like I was right next to the speakers. There were also a few screens that had close ups of the band. It was also pretty well organized, though the line for the bathroom was insane between sets. Overall, I thought that it was a really good place to have a venue because it could be super spread out and parking was a breeze. 

The concert started with Simple Plan’s “I’d Do Anything” and the place was instantly buzzing with excitement. They were incredible performers and they really knew how to excite a crowd. My absolute favorite part was when they played the Scooby Doo theme song. This really surprised me, I didn’t even know they sang it. They brought out a guy in a Scooby Doo costume and he ran around with a ray gun while they sang. It was hilarious. They finished up their set with “I’m Just a Kid (And Life is a Nightmare)” and “Perfect.” I really enjoyed their set and I could tell that they were genuinely happy and excited to be performing. 

Sum 41’s set was my favorite. Everyone in the venue was rocking out so hard and having a great time. They were going insane on stage and the visuals were crazy. Sum 41 has been one of my favorite bands for a long time now so it was really cool to be able to actually see them. They had the most energy of all of the bands and got the crowd absolutely hyped for the Offspring. 

The Offspring… I don’t know what to say about their set. I love them a lot, and I have been a fan for a really long time. This set was lacking. It started out super promising with a countdown on the jumbotron with a ton of cool visuals and crowd activities to get us hyped up. The first song was also great. It was “Come Out and Play,” which I had actually never heard before, but after listening more, I don’t think there could have been a better way to start the show. It has a really iconic opening line, so everyone went crazy. After that, things went downhill. They started playing basically only stuff from their new album, which would’ve been cool if we could understand them. There was something going on with their levels that made it really hard to hear the words. They also played a few covers, had a few odd comedic bits that interrupted their songs, and just generally seemed like they did not want to play anything that they were known for. This was the first time all night that the pit was barely moving and most people on the lawn were even sitting down looking at their phones. Although they let us down for most of it, they did end strong with their hits: “Why Don’t You Get a Job,” “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid,” and “Self Esteem.”

Overall, this concert was fun but it seemed to drag. The Offspring seem to be tired of performing, which was disappointing. Simple Plan and Sum 41 made the concert for me.

Rating: 6.5

Favorite Song Performed: “Come Out and Play”