The (International) Noise Conspiracy & The Offspring
4/13/2004 @ Roseland Theater in Portland, OR
By Robin Steeley
I arrived at the Roseland theater hopelessly late after an accident and freeway traffic caused me to miss a great opening band, The Start. I hope I get a chance to catch them when they come through Portland again sometime. Tonight's show was packed, one of the few Tuesday night shows at the Roseland that end up sold out. I heard scalpers outside the venue selling tickets for $80 a pop, and unbelievably people were paying it. Amazingly, upstairs, downstairs, both bars and the balcony are all full, its standing room only and wall to wall people.
The (International) Noise Conspiracy is a shockingly good live band. Radical rockers, these boys are pure energy. They feature hard driving rhythms and songs that deliver more then just music. The drums are powerful and the vocals are superb. I love the way T(INC) drummer is such a huge part of the crew, this is no wallflower hiding in the back behind a huge kit, he plays to the crowd like he's fronting the band. This mix is backed by guitar and bass that are original and expertly delivered. Let's not forget our man on keyboards who plays with hyper abandon and seems to be in a world all his own. I'm not sure what I expected from these guys but I was pleasantly surprised. They exude a sense of anarchy, chaos, yet melodic momentum at the same time.
The Frontman dons a ski mask and works the energetic crowd, playing a tambourine and jumping into the air. One bystander tells me that he reminds him of a young Mick Jagger and I have to agree. The band jumping in tandem with the crowd, creating a circular energy with the lights, heat, and rock and roll, the crowd surfers' presence and the ongoing battle of dueling guitars.
Punk tinged rock and roll, they play music with a message, but whether you get the message or not you will get the music. If all the bands out of Sweden are this good maybe its time America started paying attention to that little corner of the world, if not their country then surely their burgeoning music scene. If I had to describe their set in one word, it would be TIGHT. However, one word just won't do so I will give you a few more. Screeching. Loud. Energy. Chaos. Beautiful.
Next up is The Offspring who blast onto the stage after a very long set change and lots of sounds checking. They start out incredibly strong but to no avail as the second song into the night, they blew all the power in the whole place. Obviously frustrated, the vocalist tried his best to calm the packed crowd. Security even had to pull out several people on the barricade for fear of their getting crushed by the massive crowd. The power stayed off for a while, probably a long 5-7 minutes while the crowd first chanted"OFFSPRING, Offspring" and then "UNPLUGGED!!!!" They were begging for the band whether they could plug in or not.
Sound problems solved by turning out much of the elaborate lighting set up, the band jumped right back into their set with "Keep Them Separated" which whipped the crowd right back into a frenzy before throwing out a couple of new songs off their latest album "Splinter".
Thrashing out their brand of hard rock with samples and a kettle drum adding a rich sound to the set, The Offspring run through their new and rapidly climbing single "Hit That" to the delight and mad surfing of the crowd, the whole surface of the pit soon covered in crawling bodies and diving legs. Lead vocalist Dexter Holland expertly delivers both guitar work and vocal range, all the while leading the crowd through the songs. Not to be forgotten guitar work by axe man Noodles, Greg K bringing up the low end on bass, and Atom Willard taking care of percussion. The group livened up the night with their signature high-energy rock and roll style, and despite the sound problems turned the night into a stellar performance.
