One of the godfathers of punk rock. The 'punk Rolling Stones'. The band that wouldn't die.
Call them what you will, but those names have been thrown around for a reason. I saw NOFX play at Brixton on the weekend - it was the eighth time or so I'd watched them play live over a 12-year period - and it was one of the most technical performances I've ever seen from them.
Call them what you will, but those names have been thrown around for a reason. I saw NOFX play at Brixton on the weekend - it was the eighth time or so I'd watched them play live over a 12-year period - and it was one of the most technical performances I've ever seen from them.
These guys are pushing 50 years old now (Fat Mike is 48), and frankly that performance put a lot of other old 'punk rock' bands from that era, like The Offspring and dare I say it Bad Religion, to shame.
They were all jumping around, playing each song almost perfectly, bar Fat Mike's vocals (let's face it, the whole 'we only put 60% effort into our songs' is a load of shit - it's more like 80% or 90%) while getting hit by industrial-sized loo rolls and probably being under the influence of something or other.
Mike walked out onto the stage wearing a bright pink dress complete with a pink mohican (separating the shaven grey hair on either side of his head), Eric Melvin was sporting some green and black dreads and El Hefe and Smelly looked the same as always. The band looked like they have hardly aged in the past ten years.
They rocked out their usual mix of hits (Dinosaurs Will Die, Linoleum, Bob etc) along with their 30-second wonders (Murder the Government, I Wanna Be An Alcoholic) and a good selection of different choices which I don't think I've heard them play live before (72 Hookers, Dig, Perfect Government).
I was gutted they didn't they didn't play The Separation of Church and Skate, It's My Job To Keep Punk Rock Elite and a few others, but overall it was a quality show. There was also no Decline this time around, much to the dismay of a friend of a friend at the show. I've only seen NOFX perform The Decline once about six or seven years ago at the same venue, and while it was impressive, to be honest songs that long shouldn't be played live: something NOFX probably knows. It looks like the band played it for a few years then sacked it off their set lists.
The other great thing about NOFX is their sense of humour and spontaneity. They're one of the most fun bands I've seen live with real crowd interaction. Sometimes they will just rant and ramble for five minutes, other times they will ask the crowd if they want to hear a certain song, or they will heckle a random fan. At this show they pointed out a guy, who from a distance looked like he was sitting on someone else's shoulders, but turned out he brought a box with him to stand on and get a better view of the band.
At least three times during the show Fat Mike made fun of him, calling him out as the weird Scottish guy with big arms. "Who the hell brings a box with them?" he asked.
The O2 Academy had also stupidly left stacks of industrial-sized toilet rolls near the entrance to the men's toilets, which meant there was about 50 or so of them lobbed at the band during the gig. Sometimes a mic was knocked over and had to be sorted out, one almost hit Fat Mike in the face and another missed El Hefe's head by inches. Fat Mike wore some of the toilet roll like a gown at one point.
NOFX like to play themselves down, and while they did try to shake off their reputation as a fun-loving party band a little by pointing out some of their more political/anti-religious songs (Perfect Government, You're Wrong), it's clear they still have a huge following. The show itself sold out, and when NOFX appeared on stage, the crowd surged forwards and a few mosh pits broke out during songs (something I've noticed happens less and less nowadays - the System of a Down show at Wembley this year barely had any, whereas ten years ago the place would've been a bloodbath). Hell, even my friends and I decided to race to the front when NOFX came on stage, despite not having plans to do so beforehand.
The supporting acts - Gnarwolves, Lagwagon and Alkaline Trio - were all good, but their applause and cheers paled in significance for NOFX. Fat Mike doesn't like being seen or treated as a 'rock star', but face it Mike: You are one!
It might sound weird, but in all the NOFX shows I've been to, Fat Mike has a tendency to appear to be looking right at you, no matter which direction he is facing. It looks like his eyes are tilting towards you and he's engaging you directly with the audience. The guy might have been crap at singing and songwriting when he started out, but today he's a natural entertainer.
I was gutted that the extra Sunday show had Capdown playing, as well as NOFX performing their Punk In Drublic album in full for the first time, but regardless, the Saturday performance was as exciting as any NOFX show I've been to.
The only thing I was left wondering was: How long can they keep this up? Mike has previously said in a fan Q&A on the NOFX website that "as long as you guys and gals are supporting us, I think we'll stick around for a long while. When it's not fun anymore, then we'll see. I don't know, but when you've been into punk rock for more than half your life, you can't just give it up. It is our life."
It's a sentiment that is brought up in NOFX's song 60%: "And seriously, what else am I supposed to do? This isn't my job, my hobby, my habit
It's sad, but this is my life... I suppose that's how we'll go out, played out and way after our time."
It's also echoed in the NOFX song Everything In Moderation, where Mike makes a reference to Ian Mackaye of Minor Threat from the '80s:
"I might be an adult but I'm still a minor at heart
OK my liver is my senior part
But that's a part you can trade in
When your band has been a band longer than the Ramones
And critics coin you "the punk Rolling Stones
That's when you know this is for life"
Punk rock of this ilk may not be as popular as it once was, with Fat Mike pointing out there's hardly any teenagers at their shows anymore, but with the way they're going - the band members are clearly close with one another, they know their main songs very well, they still have a laugh and their fans still love them - for me NOFX can probably keep this up well into their sixties.
There's life in the old dog yet.
