Rancid @ The Electric Factory.

Text and images by Chad Sims.

I am not sure what I expected to see when I decided to see Rancid this time around.

Rancid’s albums were some of my favorites in high school and pretty much the reason I wanted to play bass guitar (Matt Freeman is a maniac).

Back in those days I saw them twice and neither time did they impress me, which says a lot because looking back I liked some fairly hideous bands in high school.

So I wanted to see what these many years had wrought on this band.

I have to say I was blown away.

They thundered out of the gate with “Radio” the second track off their second full length Let’s Go.

The classics came fast and furious, one after another and the sold-out crowd shouted out the lyrics to each one except when singer Tim Armstrong would…um…reinterpret the songs. What I mean by this is that members of Rancid have become a really strong group. Matt was always great. Lars Frederiksen has gone from being a serviceable guitarist to being one of the tightest punk guitarists around. And new drummer Branden Steineckert is dead on.

Meanwhile Tim has followed a different path.

Armstrong never so much cared about singing on pitch – as heard on the albums – but at this show he didn’t even seem to be singing on rhythm. Despite Tim’s odd delivery it still worked. Very few other bands would get a pass for such a shoddy performance. But for Rancid, it simply works probably because of the great energy that Armstrong lends to the show.

In the end, the show was great. The crowd was amazing and Rancid redeemed themselves from the weaker performances I had seen in my younger years.

Armstrong’s other band, The Transplants (featuring drummer Travis Barker from Blink 182), also played a incredible set, including their song “Diamonds and Guns” made famous by its piano riff being used in a shampoo commercial.

Crown of Thornz opened.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Check out this new track from Tim Armstrong, featuring JUMP summer issue cover artist Reef The Lost Cauze.