Rancid's Still Got It

Last night, Rancid was pretty much everything they could have been. The crowd was very antsy after the Aquabats wrapped up the openers. Their set opened with Matt Freeman playing the bass riff to Journey to the End of the East Bay and I nearly wet my pants, as anticipated. This song went straight into Radio and my knees were weak. I love that song. They motored through a slew of songs, from Rats in the Hallway from their first full-length album to some brand new stuff that I hadn't heard. Matt Freeman also whipped out his extended bass solo during Maxwell Murder (as I'd hoped). Sweeeet.

Both Matt and Tim Armstrong turned 40 this year but you wouldn't know it to look at them. Guitarist Lars Frederiksen was looking a little rough - even the bags under his eyes had bags. At one of their shows in Montreal earlier in the tour, Lars apparently passed out, and a few of their shows were cancelled.

While they weren't bouncing off the walls as I'm sure they did in their younger days, Tim maintained enough energy to keep the crowd frenzied. And the amount of sweaty teenage backs I ran into was a sure testament to that. Gross. They played their classics, including Timebomb, Nihilism, Roots Radicals, Olympia WA, and finished off with Ruby Soho. They even threw in a cover of Operation Ivy's Knowledge, which made me almost lose my voice. It's ridiculous that that album came out 17 years ago.

All in all, the show reminded me of what it was like to be 15, when punk music was pretty much the most important thing in my life. And how good it is to stand next to my best friend with my fist in the air singing Roots Radicals at the top of my lungs. It's been awhile.... woo!