It would be futile to try to keep a set list for a Rancid show the way people do for many rock shows.
For starters, the pioneering California-based punk band’s songs rarely crack the 3-minute mark.
Rancid’s performance Monday at Washington’s 9:30 Club—following a two-year hiatus—amounted to one gem after another in quick succession to a sold-out audience that seemed to know every word.
The band played heavily from fan favorites like 1994’s “Let’s Go” and 1995’s “Out Come the Wolves.” They may even have thrown in a couple tunes from Operation Ivy—the apotheosized ’80s ska group in which guitarist Tim Armstrong and bassist Matt Freeman got their start.
As to whether Rancid played their biggest mainstream hit, “Ruby Soho,” before or after the Op-Ivy retrospective “Journey To the End Of the East Bay”—well, from the middle of an undulating pit of sweaty fans, it didn’t really seem to matter what song they played when, or whether lead singers Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen hit every note just right. (By five songs in, the ringing in your ears made individual notes virtually impossible to discern anyhow.)
The songs blended together, just as one crowd member’s elbow might merge with another’s torso or face. But while the 17-year-old band’s three founding members are all around 40 (“Naw, bro—I’m not a young man anymore,” said Frederiksen to a fan ostensibly calling for him to take his shirt off), the audience, for the most part, seemed young enough to take a few mosh-pit hits or crowd-surfing falls—and they expected no less.
From a musical perspective, Freeman’s bass solo on “Maxwell Murder” stood out, reminding people that, in fact, Rancid really can play. Yet musicianship has always seemed an afterthought to anyone who’s heard Armstrong’s rasping vocals. The band’s music is mostly about the energy, which never abated throughout the show. As Metro riders began checking their watches around 11 p.m., the set, an hour in, was still going strong.
One other standout performance of the evening came from openers Big D and the Kids Table. Prior to Rancid’s taking the stage, the Boston-based horn-heavy outfit brought a different kind of energy to the show with their uniquely upbeat ska, dub and punk style, and even had some in the audience calling out for one more song before the headlining act.
—Ben Sellers