NOFX appeals to a motley crowd
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 28, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 DAVE HILL/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Fat
Mike, of the punk band NOFX, riles up the crowd at the
House of Blues Monday night with the last song from "Pump Up the
Valuum."
By Sara Bamossy
Daily Bruin Contributor
NOFX is punk rock personified.
NOFX played at the House of Blues Monday in support of its new
album, “Pump Up the Valuum,” along with opening acts
Furious IV and the Mad Caddies. NOFX band members Erik Sandin
(drums), Eric Melvin (guitar), Fat Mike (bass, vocals) and El Hefe
(guitar) put on an amazing performance.
NOFX is a band that loves to play punk music and has a good time
doing it. This is what makes it so enjoyable to see live and what
draws many loyal fans to its sold-out shows at venues across
America. The band plays the music that it wants to play without
conforming to the corporate aspect of the music industry. To put it
simply, the band puts on one of the best live shows in punk
rock.
“Everything they did was so good and done really well.
Everyone knows that all four are talented musicians, but they
really proved it tonight,” said Ben Bert, an undeclared
first-year UCLA student at the show.
 DAVE HILL/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Fat
Mike, owner and founder of Fat Wreck Chords, gets intimate
with the microphone during NOFX’s hour-and-a-half set last Monday.
Although punk rock music is often stereotyped for being violent,
the overall mood at the show was friendly. This stems from the
music NOFX plays. The band’s lyrics have never been about
espousing gratuitous violence ““ its songs are mainly
political or just plain amusing. On the surface the lyrics may seem
to be politically incorrect, but they serve as a clever social
commentary ““ the band does not shy away from any topic.
The band attracted two very different kinds of fans to the House
of Blues.
There were hard-core fans at the show because they wanted to
hear the music and then there were people who were there just to be
punk.
This distinction between the fans is found at many other punk
rock shows and illustrates a deep point of contention within the
crowd. Some of the people at the show were loyal NOFX fans and were
there solely to see the band play. Others were there simply because
of what punk rock represents ““ rebellion. Some fans tried to
engage in head walking, or trying to stand on other people’s
heads while crowd surfing.
The age of the fans present at the House of Blues ranged from
early teens to late 30s, displaying the impact the band’s
music has on a different ages. Not very many punk bands can boast
such a broad fan base.
In the hour and 20 minutes that NOFX was on stage, the band
performed at least one song from each of its 13 albums. The band
integrated both old and new songs into the performance, including
the anthems “Bob” and “The Brews” and some
of its characteristic short songs such as “Six Pack
Girls” and “Murder the Government.”
The band also played several songs off its new album “Pump
Up the Valuum,” including “A Theme from a NOFX
Album” and “What’s the Matter with Parents These
Days.” However, the band did not openly promote its new album
during the performance, unlike opening band Furious IV, which
showered the crowd with a barrage of free T-shirts and spit.
The highlight of the show was when the band performed
“Theme from a NOFX Album” as their last song. The song,
which can be classified as a polka, featured a long accordion solo
by Melvin. This was a testament to the amazing musical ability of
the band. There are not many other punk rock bands out there that
can successfully integrate accordion music into songs, let alone
those that have a band member talented enough to play one.
Other highlights included El Hefe’s impersonations of
cartoon characters during “He’s More Punk than
Me,” and his deep vocals during the performance of
“Straight Edge.”
Not only was the performance awesome, the House of Blues was
also an excellent venue. The intimacy of the club allowed fans to
get within several feet of the bands, which is what makes the
band’s shows so appealing.
“We play at small clubs for you,” Fat Mike said.
The band also keeps ticket prices fairly low. The show was only
$12, although the band could have easily charged much more. NOFX
has always been about the fans and it knows that many of them could
not afford a more expensive show.
The Mad Caddies, a seven-piece Santa Barbara-based ska band,
also gave an energetic and entertaining performance. It was
accented by the lead singer’s comical antics while on stage
““ he whistled, skanked and made dirty jokes.
The other opening band, the Furious IV, however, was not as
exciting. The lead singer didn’t really sing and instead
yelled mostly unintelligible lyrics.
Though the show started slow with the Furious IV, the excellent
live performance by NOFX embodies all that is punk rock.
