By Tiffany Detzel
The time has come to say goodbye, the end of an era is quickly approaching. Forty years is a long time, and oh so much has happened within them. We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we’ve canceled, but now, only the memories will remain. I am of course referring to Nofx’s Final Tour. Forty years, forty cities, and forty songs per performance. I had the pleasure of attending their Punk in Drublic festival at Legend Valley near Columbus, Ohio. Two days of non stop punk and ska music from some of the best in the scene.
Day one went off without a hitch, despite everyone melting in the 80% humidity. The always amazing Bad Cop Bad Cop got the party started and the crowd quickly gathered to the stage. Following their badass performance were Codefendants, a band that manages to mix hip hop and punk in flawless fashion. Third up for the day were SoCal punk legends Adolescents. Age has not slowed these guys down one bit and the crowd was pumped for their performance. Next up were Strung Out. Still riding high from the previous band, the crowd continued to mosh away and scream along. Ska legends Less Than Jake performed next and we all got our skankin’ shoes on! The crowd managed to get even louder with their singing and upped their crowd surfing as well. Keeping our skankin’ going were the Circle Jerks, a band also worthy of the ‘legendary’ title. Thankfully age hasn’t slowed these guys down either. Last up for the night were of course Nofx. Their performance started off with a nice little dance ditty to ‘The Time Warp.’ Lots of witty banter and crowd work occurred between a variety of their songs across numerous albums. A wonderful time was had by all and everyone left psyched for the next days shenanigans.
Day two went just as well as day one, but thankfully without the sweat drenching humidity. Kicking off the fun were the fantastic band The Last Gang. The crowd was slower to gather this time, but I suspect most were hungover from the day before. Following them were the skatastic Mustard Plug. The crowd was now fully awake and ready to put their skankin’ shoes back on. Keeping that momentum going were punk greats Get Dead, featuring the singer from Codefendants. The crowd had now decided to switch from dancing to crowd surfing. This continued right into the next set, which featured the phenomenal Suicide Machines. Singer Jason Navarro also wasted no time hoping off stage and going right to the barrier to sing with the fans. Following this set of fun were the also phenomenal Bouncing Souls. The crowd got really loud singing along from start to finish. Someone even managed to bring in a mini plastic toilet with the words ‘Toilet Song’ written on it. The band got quite a kick out of this, though sadly did not play the song. Next to the stage were one of my favorite bands, the one and only Descendents. These guys never disappoint and always give 110% in their performance. Next up was the main event, the last Nofx performance of the festival. Once again they came out dancing to ‘The Time Warp.’ After this they played their hit ‘Dinosaurs Will Die’ which also featured a guest appearance from someone in an inflatable dinosaur costume! The rest of the set featured another variety of their songs, with less banter in between. As expected, the final song of the night was ‘The Decline.’ It was the perfect way to end the night and their final performance in Columbus.
There aren’t many tour dates left to see Nofx one last time, so do it while you can.
