Hours before playing the last US date of their Hepatitis Bathtub and Music Tour, NOFX signed copies of their new, best-selling book at Politics & Prose. The line to get in and see them snaked around the block. El Hefe, Smelly, and Melvin were in good spirits, despite the fact that many fans insisted on taking photos of them—the same photos all the other fans had taken—and were seriously holding up the line. Understandably, Fat Mike was somewhere between Not Amused and Go Fuck Yourself. Or maybe he was sick.
Must’ve been the former because by the time they took the stage at the Fillmore, he looked ready to rock, wearing a sexy above-the-knee leather skirt. Opening with “60%” and “Dinosaurs Will Die,” the energy on stage ramped up. Melvin launched into the air numerous times. The crowd ate it up and the pit refreshed itself for a raucous night.
As the hour-plus set progressed, Mike seemed to warm to the crowd, lovingly engaging with one audience member by hurtling an object at her and yelling “There’s a dollar, you fucking bitch. Shut up!” The set drew from the early days with “Green Corn” and “Linoleum” and the more recent with “72 Hookers,” with plenty of satisfying staples in the mix.
At the end of the night Mike thanked the crowd for “coming to see us after so many years.” To me it seemed obvious why fans of all ages packed the place—they sound great. Tight, fun, aggressive. After 25+ years together, that is no small feat.
