So this is it guys. After 41 years, NOFX are calling it a day. And what a way to go out, bringing their Punk In Drublic Festival on the road one last time. Having never seen them in a venue bigger than MTelus, it looked a little optimistic, 2 days in a huge outdoor space beside the Olympic stadium, but sure enough, it’s the right call. With 20,000 fans in attendance, frontman Fat Mike declares it the biggest headline shows they’ve ever played, and it’s a triumphant goodbye to their beloved Montreal.
I arrive on Day 1 kinda late in the day. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have a house and chores to do on the weekend even at the best of times, and especially so after getting back from Europe earlier that week to a damaged basement as a result of that August 9th rainstorm from hell. So yeah, watching bands for 10 hours/day for my first weekend back isn’t an option; sorry to all those further down the bill that I miss. It looks like you were great from what I saw on Instagram!
Of course, there’s no way I am missing The Interrupters when they come to town, whatever the circumstances; if ever there is a band guaranteed to bring a smile to your face when you need it most, it’s them. The set kicks off with Gave You Everything to a huge mosh, and it’s clear that they have a lot of fans here already. A Friend Like Me sees the place go even more nuts, and the pace remains unrelenting for the duration of their hour. I almost blow out my vocal cords during On A Turntable, no lie.
Guitarist Kevin Bivona has some fun playing the intro to Your Love by The Outfield, which legit gets a huge singalong too, though it’s nothing in comparison to the one that greets his excerpt of Coming Too Close by No Use For A Name (in tribute to the late great Tony Sly). Raised By Wolves unleashes thousands of “awoooooooo” wolf calls into the sunset, a perfect spectacle soon followed by a sea of waving arms during She Got Arrested, frontwoman Aimee drawing out “insanityyyyyyyyyyy” kinda like the Three Amigos theme song from that 80s movie.
Kevin implores all to sing on Take Back The Power, “even if you don’t know the words, make something up!” Not to worry; seems like most people know them. The monstrous She’s Kerosene closes out the triumphant hour. Fifth time seeing these guys, and I love them more than ever.
One of the things you take for granted at Osheaga is never having to wait around for the next band to start. With only one stage, we have to wait a full 45 minutes until NOFX arrive. Still, when they do, it’s in style, with Fat Mike doing the Time Warp from Rocky Horror Picture Show. Before doing anything, Mike proclaims “this is insane, the biggest show we’ve ever played! Yeah we’ve played Festivals to more people, but this is 20,000 of our people!” Things kick off with a bang with 60%, then a venomous Seeing Double At The Triple Rock kicks things up a notch.
Fat Mike pokes fun at himself and the band throughout the set, generally at the bands age and lack of stamina (“we’re gonna do 1 song in a row!”), as well as their appearance (“The Interrupters are so much better looking than NOFX!”). His praise of Montreal is pretty regular too – “you guys are so much better than Winnipeg! And Guelph!” We even get a musical tribute, replacing “Amoeba” with “Montreal” by The Adolescents on a quick run through that particular chorus. Some of the comments are pretty close to the line in places (“Any Muslim’s? You guys are weirder than Americans!”), but Mike has been doing this his whole career – he’s certainly not gonna stop now!
Anyway, back to the music. The set draws from most of their 15 studio records, though mostly from the iconic Pump Up The Valuum as well as the criminally underrated Wolves In Wolves’ Clothing (“one of our best records!”, per Mike); Leaving Jesusland from the latter sounds absolutely enormous. My favourite NOFX record The War On Errorism gets representation in the form of The Idiots Are Taking Over and Franco Un-American, so I’m happy with that too! The reggae-infused Radio is introduced as “written by white people, but sounds like it was written by black people,” though any chill vibes generated by that are quickly obliterated by the time Linoleum arrives. The first night closes out with Theme From A NOFX Album, Eric Melvin’s accordion playing alone late into the night as the stage crew unplugs the rest of the stage setup after a triumphant hour and three quarters.
Mike joked earlier “we’re playing 2 nights; if you got tickets for tomorrow, it’s gonna be all the same songs! Joke, its all different…” Hard to know whether to take him seriously or not by this point, so only one way to find out; see you tomorrow!
By the time Sunday Day 2 rolls around, I’m not gonna lie, it’s a little hard to get going, especially in light of the fact that thunderstorm warnings are in effect; indeed, the program is disrupted for a while during the course of the afternoon. Still, this will be my 7th and final time seeing NOFX, so I really can’t miss this for the world. So out of the door and back across the city I go!
On arrival, I am relieved to see the storm clouds have cleared, and the sun is shining once more. After a hearty bacon-saucisse poutine to power up (shout out Poutine Centrale!), it’s the legendary Descendents who arrive on stage with a resonant Feel This, swiftly followed by the epic Hope. What a start to the set, holyyyyyyyy! Everything Sux ignites the circle pit, which simmers for the duration of the 55-minute set.
‘Merican and I’m The One get huge singalongs, the latter seriously flexing the insane bass lines by the understated Karl Alvarez; honestly, we are in Matt Freeman territory here. The bassline on Nothing With You is mind-bending too. The timeless Suburban Home sends the circle pit into a tailspin one last time, before Smile closes out the set with frontman Milo Aukerman effusive in his thanks for the hardy crowd who are still standing!
And so to NOFX, and their last ever show on a Montreal stage. Fat Mike declares upon arrival: “so you are the ones who don’t work, huh?! It’s Sunday y’know!” He continues to poke fun at himself and the band, just like the previous night. At one point, he sings the chorus to Quart In Session interchangeably with Franco Un-American (to highlight how they are basically the same song in structure, but with different lyrics), and confesses prior to Don’t Call Me White, “here we ripped off a Minor Threat song!”
Turns out he wasn’t kidding at the end of Saturday night either; midway through the set, he remarks “we haven’t repeated ourselves yet!” And it’s true – every single song of the set is different to the day before. The only recycling I catch is the joke about a song written by white people that sounds like black people, but tonight that is applied to the classic Eat The Meek. I am overjoyed to hear Mattersville and The Separation Of Church And Skate from my beloved Errorism record; I don’t think I’ve heard either of those songs played since they toured that record in 2003, so of course I blow a gasket singing along to those. And for sure, I am so relieved I came out for the second day; I would have been devastated to miss this.
In fact, I find myself enjoying Day 2 even more than Day 1. The pace is unrelenting, the tunes are non-stop amazing; in one sequence, we get Stickin’ In My Eye, Murder The Government, and The Brews, all in a row! Drugs Are Good and Please Play This Song On The Radio are even funnier than I remember too.
Then things start to get emotional, which I never would have expected for a NOFX show. A moving tribute to Tony Sly arrives in the form of “I’m So Sorry Tony” (“he loved Quebec, you loved him,” eulogizes Mike), and then after the mellow vibes of Reeko, Mike effuses once more: “our love for you is tres bon; I can’t tell you what Quebec and Montrel has been for NOFX, this is our biggest city, we’re gonna miss you so much!” He even starts to tear up a little.
Their last song on a Montreal stage is the 1999 EP The Decline, played in full, all 18 minutes (or thereabouts) of it; quite the contrast to the various 2-minute blasts that came before. And again, something I never thought I would see live. Sensing the end is near, the crowd gets a second wind and explodes into frenetic activity for the duration, and the band respond in turn, roaring out the sections with the bass so loud, you wonder if the aging Olympic Stadium nearby is finally going to crumble. Mike begins to visibly sob as he sings his last lines, before moving around the stage to hug everyone as the song ends. The crowd continue singing the “woahhhh” refrain long after the song finishes, by way of appreciation.
Of course, things can’t end that sentimentally, so the PA starts playing a joke cabaret song called “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist,” with the band performing a choreographed dance routine to it as the crowd starts to file out into the night. Another hour and 45 minute set on Day 2 gives us a total of 3½ hours of NOFX over the course of the 2 nights, a fitting send-off for one of the most important punk bands in history. It was absolutely amazing. What else is there to say? I couldn’t put it any more nonsensically ‘NOFX’ than they did themselves in 1997.
So Long, and Thanks for All the Shoes!
Review – Simon Williams
Photos – Eric Brisson & Ema Riot
