Live Review: The Offspring - Crystal Palace Park Series, London 28/06/2026
The Offspring lead a memorable ode to the spirit of punk rock at Crystal Palace Park that true to its word, remains incendiary and rebellious; with standouts including a Dropkick Murphys set that sets aim to tear down the whole American political system with a warning to the rest of the world: don’t make the same mistake that we did.
After the first day at Crystal Palace for Kneecap you can be forgiven for thinking that the second would be a more relaxing; sat-down day, but it’s a testament to the energy in the 30,000-capacity park that you can’t help but be pulled in from the lure of the very first band: American punk rock outfit Destroy Boys. They’re politically charged and encourage you to go to security to report any sexual harassment in the pits; and if you’re a creep in a pit you don’t belong in punk rock. It’s against the ethos of the genre and this puts them in the frame as bands like Lambrini Girls or Bikini Kill with their firecracker energy and anthems that warn the audience of the danger of being young people entering a scene and dating older, predatory men. ‘I Threw Glass at my Friend’s Eyes and now I’m on Probation’ is a wonderfully titled track that goes for the juglar: “You’re like way older than me / and you’re gross and I don’t wanna do that… never invite me over again….” The song calls back to their experience and the mistakes they made and have recognised what they’ve done at a young age; and only grown and learnt from it. It’s a warning that they can leave for future generations to not do the same – and this song, especially if you know what members of Destroy Boys have been through, leaves a mark – using their voice to speak for something and change – it’s good to see that the spirit of protest hasn’t just been relegated to one day on the park.
Next up we switch territory for Pup. In the same way that Turnstile had their moment in the sun thanks to Charlie XCX branding it a Turnstile summer; it feels like Pup are that band – they have the essence of a baby Turnstile if you were, fitting that La Dispute vibe of songs that can be cathartic and incredibly sad; but also deeply rage-inducing and pit-ready with the mass appeal that almost shocks the band themselves to see how many people are singing along for them. It’s bliss: ‘If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will’ gets the most sing-alongs as they pull heavily from early career success ‘The Dream is Over’. You’d think Pup are a new band the way they have emerged onto the scene with explosive force this summer – but have been around for multiple years; honing their craft and that shows in their confident live scenes, coming this time from Canada, having been touring since 2010. The transition straight into ‘DVP’ is basically one long song that they cap their set with “your sister thinks that I’m a freak, she’s been ignoring my calls we haven’t spoken in a week” fits the similar vibes of Texas is the Reason, Waterparks or Billy Talent – as they catapult themselves into pop punk territory that match a familiar vibe that’s fully formed and rearing to go. In the genre that is pop punk they exist primarily as more punk than pop – when most are the opposite.
After Pup, and like yesterday, Crystal Palace Park Series is a perfectly organised, well-run, well-oiled festival that feels very much like the All Points East of South London (except, with better sound) – we get Pennywise who prove that skate punk is very much not dead. The South California band are a little slow to start but goad the crowd by saying they got more engagement at Hellfest in a peak French heatwave; and if this is the country of football they should be better at chanting their name. They lead the audience in a singalong of ‘Stand By Me’ that allows the pitters to come up for air; and appropriately have the crowd on their side by the time they come for Trump after explaining they’re from America to a chorus of boos from the crowd. It’s fun watching the genre switch from Irish-flag wearing Kneecap fans to a score of emos and punk heads, a different but no less harsh vibe – it feels like a good crowd all round; perfectly welcoming and that stays the same into Dropkick Murphys – who come out swinging and then some.
The Murphys were my main reason for coming today and booking the band the day after Kneecap almost feels like the BBC letting Bob Vylan air on television but blocking Kneecap themselves at Glastonbury. They come out swinging: in the first few minutes they gun for world leaders of like Benjamin Netanyahu
and Donald Trump, inviting Fletcher from Pennywise back on stage for ‘The Big Man’. It’s ruthless, it’s no holds barred juggernaut of onslaught where frontman Ken Casey comes for Trump. His vocals are an instant crowd-pleaser as we get the runaround of classic ‘The Boys Are Back’ “And they’re looking for trouble”, in peak Murphys mode that allows the full audience to sing and scream along. The imagery accompanying ‘Who’ll Stand With Us?’ call for a revolution – for the people, drawing from their 2024 titled album, and by this point the crowd is in so good spirits that we get a wheelchair user crowd surfed to the front and then invited up on stage by Casey himself, proceeding to sport an anti-fascist flag to the audience. It’s a revolutionary Bostonian ballad after revolutionary Bostonian ballad – walls of death come for “’Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya’, and wisely, perhaps, this being London – they leave off Liverpool anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ from the setlist.
That allows them to tear into Trump with ‘First Class Loser’ – if it wasn’t obvious it was about Trump – “you can’t ditch him, you can’t lose him, there is no place he can hide,” the visuals showing his weird handshakes; golf failures and slips on Air Force One’s stairs – in addition to the connection with Jeffrey Epstein broadcast through facts and shared photos – will remind you of that. When ‘Citizen I.C.E.’ comes next – you’re watching a politically charged firecracker of a show explode with the confidence Casey gives a room that you can’t help but completely buy into – “Take your mask and weapon and then be on your way / They’re knee deep in Proud boys, the party never stops / Too scared to join the military, too dumb to be a cop”. It’s the kind of barroom brawler lyrics that they pay ode to on ‘Baroom hero’ – showing the flaws in these people’s loyalty to bar culture – and pay a healthy ode of tribute to The Pogues’ iconic Shane MacGowan, whose passing casts a shadow on the whole weekend; with ‘The Body of An American’ – that they make entirely their own. It’s something that required a pit – and the crowd obliges. Finally – of course – it’s ‘Shipping Up to Boston’ – which the crowd belt out and there are cries of “more” well into the break. It feels like this is a band that could’ve headlined the festival in their own right – with energy and stage presence to share.
However; headliner slot means only one thing: the big names. Green Day-esque The Offspring fit that pop punk void that the show has been drifting in and out of with bands like Pup earlier in the evening, and they’re more on the pop punkier side; having recently played a Taylor Swift song at Hellfest and gave Swift her largest circle pit. Their cover of ‘Love Story’ gets the runout, and tracks like ‘Come Out and Play’ and ‘All I Want’ – as they run through their catalogue with a band in their groove. Iconic moments are reserved for ‘Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)’, ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’ and more -with ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’ bringing the house down for a momentous end to the evening: cathartic emo kid singalong in the best way possible.
Words by Miles Milton-Jefferies
Photo Credit: Federica Burelli
