r/TheOffspring • u/onkel-eddie-records • 6d ago
What do The Offspring and Green Day think of each other?
From the mid-90s to the early 2000s, The Offspring and Green Day were the two most popular mainstream punk bands. I followed both bands equally closely. Dexter Holland and Billie Joe Armstrong often talked about how other bands had influenced them and about bands that played a certain role in the punk scene at the time, but never about each other. At least, I couldn’t find anything on the subject. I’d be interested to know what Dexter and Billie Joe think of each other. Does anyone know more?
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u/RetroReimagined 6d ago
They've never really talked about each other, Noodles said there's no animosity and the media pitted them against each other
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u/SumoftheOffspring44 6d ago
They like each other. The Offspring said as much on social media and they were both Gilman bands.
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u/Poodleape2 6d ago
Gilman?
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u/SumoftheOffspring44 6d ago
Yeah, Gilman Street.
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u/Poodleape2 4d ago
Gonna need more than that.
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u/SumoftheOffspring44 4d ago
Okay. 924 Gilman Street is a place where most of the bigger punk/pop punk bands came from. The Offspring, then Manic Subsidal, played tons of shows there before and after they became The Offspring, and Sweet Children, aka Green Day, played there a lot as well before Green Day signed to Reprise in 1994.
One of the rules there is you NEVER can sign to a major label, it's not acceptable. AFI played there as well. Green Day were effectively banned from playing there in 1994 and Insomniac was mostly written about the anger Billie felt being rejected by them. Biggest example is the song 86, but every song has a very angry tone and you can tell where Billie's head was when he wrote those songs.
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u/insipidfap 6d ago
There was an interview many years back where Dexter told the story of being on the phone with Billie Joe around 1994, telling him that what was happening with their bands was very special, and Billie Joe coming off as disinterested and standoffish. In that interview Dexter said he loves Green Day's music, but if Billie Joe ever wanted to throw down, he'd be ready. (This last part was a joke obviously)
That was decades ago, I'm sure they're cool with each other now. Billie Joe recently said in an interview that The Offspring doesn't get the respect they deserve. I don't think they're all best friends or anything but there seems to be a mutual respect.
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u/Diadem_Cheeseboard 5d ago
Though obviously that was a joke, my money would definitely be on Dexter if he and Billie Joe ever did throw down! lol 🙃
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u/ScienceMusic_1929 5d ago
No, like Dexter does triathlons and marathons for fun and is 6'2". Billie's going down
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u/Diadem_Cheeseboard 5d ago
I meant my money would be on Dexter to be victorious in that matchup, though I never realised he was as tall as that! That just means his victory would be even more assured. 🤭
I dont know how tall Billie Joe is, but hes definitely shorter than Dexter, that much is obvious.
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u/ScienceMusic_1929 5d ago
Billie is like 5'7". That's like 7 inches shorter or something.
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u/Diadem_Cheeseboard 5d ago
Wow. Even taking everything else out of the equation, just that fact alone, would make it an unfair matchup.
Now, Dexter vs Mike Dirnt though... I think that would be an explosive matchup! lol
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u/ScienceMusic_1929 5d ago
It would be closer, definitely. But Mike Dirnt vs. Mike Dirnt's ex wife is going to be unfair for him.
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u/Diadem_Cheeseboard 5d ago
Why? What did she do to him?
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u/ScienceMusic_1929 5d ago
I was making a joke on the origin of one of the songs on Dookie
Basically Mike and his girlfriend, Anastasia at the time were having a pillow fight and he fell and broke both elbows during it. The band made Pulling Teeth to fun of it. The title is a reference to Metallica's (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth because Anesthesia sounds like Anastasia.
TLDR: Mike broke both elbows in a pillow fight with her.
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u/It_sJustMeYouSee 5d ago
Oh, interesting! I've just heard Noodles talk about Green Day, never the other way round. Do you remember which interview that was?
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u/insipidfap 5d ago
You mean the interview where Billie Joe said Offspring doesn't get the respect they deserve? It was in the Ian Winwood book "Smash! The 90s Punk Explosion".
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u/Diadem_Cheeseboard 5d ago
I never knew Billie Joe said that, but props to him for doing so. Id love both bands to tour together, though I know Green Day would have to headline, even though ideally, Id have it be a co-headline tour.
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u/Jess_1666 17h ago
They played Dubai and South Africa together last year
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u/Diadem_Cheeseboard 17h ago
Were they actual tours though, or just one off shows? I meant a full scale tour together.
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u/Jess_1666 17h ago
Three shows, two in South Africa and one in Dubai but it was part of the calabash festival tour r/tijsvl_ would fill in the bits I’ve got wrong
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u/Diadem_Cheeseboard 6d ago
Great question, Ive often wondered about this myself. I got into both bands at round about the same time, through Dookie and Smash in the mid-90's. So itd be nice to hear that they liked each other.
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u/Prize-Analyst7897 6d ago
They're my two favorite bands and I've seen both live. I don't think there's any animosity between them and both bands have such chill vibes that I don't think there would be. I just don't think they're particularly close friends either
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u/samworthy85 6d ago
It's weird because they where the big names in the early 90s of punk rock, despite being about as similar in musical style as Oasis and Blur.
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u/Diadem_Cheeseboard 5d ago
Funnily enough, I liked both Oasis and Blur in the 90's too, even though the UK media kept painting them as rivals, and that you could only one like or the other. lol
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u/samworthy85 5d ago
I've never understood that rivalry. Neither band sounded alike 😂
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u/Diadem_Cheeseboard 5d ago
Music journo laziness is the answer to that basically. 😂 Its like the whole grunge thing, were bands like Nirvana, Alice In Chains and Soundgarden were lumped together as being in the same genre, despite the fact they all sounded very different to each other.
Likewise, Oasis and Blur were lazily labelled as "Britpop", despite both being more indie/alternative rock (with pop elements). 🤭👍🏻
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u/Known_Visual_4212 6d ago
They certainly had a history of the media putting them against eachother & there is an interview of Dexter talking shit about them back in 1994/1995 saying he liked their music, but didn't like how they were selling out punk music etc. It was funny seeing The Offspring then arguably go more poppy than Green Day ever did with Americana few years later. I bought Green Day's book around the time American Idiot came out and there was a comment in it from the author that the Offspring refused to comment and they believed there was tension between the bands.
Nowadays they seem to be fine. They've toured together in Dubai & the UAE and both bands complimented each other with Noodles saying nice things about Green Day & Billie Joe calling The Offspring their "Bros". The Offspring even had Basket Case playing before their last show I saw in Sydney, Australia. There are photos going around of Dexter & Tre hanging around together as well.
I think like a lot of things, people grow up. Both bands have had phenomenal careers with Green Day really only leaping ahead after American Idiot, both have amazing back catalogs & Offspring are selling out bigger arena's than they have in their whole career (At least when they tour Australia) while Green Day are now playing stadiums.
Personally I love both bands. Green Day's live show is something else, but Offspring's Ignition & Smash have a rawness to them I love. One of the best gigs I've ever been to was The Offspring doing Ignition in full.
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u/Punks0_0 5d ago
Dude I was there for the Sydney show when they played Ignition in full. Honestly the best show I have ever been to.
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u/Ok-Interaction-8917 5d ago
why did I get an ad for lingerie when I clicked to read what people posted? pretty school stuff. anyway I think both bands never bought into tabloid fueled drama.
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u/broomulack 5d ago
I lumped these two bands together in the mid 90s in the sense that they both had breakout albums at the same time, both were all over the radio at the same time, and my cover band did all of the popular songs from each band at the same time. I've since grown to Love The Offspring much more, but Offspring and Green Day, Green Day and Offspring were the '90s pop punk and popular music scene for me. Sure many, including them, feel the same in that probably created a fun rivalry. I doubt they dislike each other honestly, but probably more like a sibling rivalry if anything.
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u/Liber_ 6d ago
Green Day supports Palestina and The Offspring performed in Israel, for example...
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u/djmedicalman 6d ago
How do you know that?
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u/jadedargyle333 6d ago
They're referencing some video about the Offspring playing in Israel a long time ago. It was made to look like they just played there recently. Even if they did, as long as they weren't playing for the IDF, it doesn't really matter.
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u/Liber_ 6d ago
It was 2023, not that long ago
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u/jadedargyle333 6d ago
Before or after October 7th? Theres some serious context required before you start slinging mud.
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u/the_old_mark 6d ago
I suspect they don't like eachother. Maybe like, privately a rivalry, or something more simple like you ignore someone who also has the same first name as yours. I would imagine it would be annoying to be constantly mentioned in the same sentence. The reason I believe this is they just haven't toured enough together. Only recently, October 2023, were The Offspring, Green Day, and Blink 182 on the same ticket- Bamboozle 2023. There have been some others since, like Saudi or Dubai. But considering who else they have toured with for 30 years, its telling how little time they have spent in the same room.
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u/Tijsvl_ 6d ago
When Offspring and Green Day played a show in Dubai two years ago or so, I believe some of the guys went on quad bike trip to the desert together. I experienced no weirdness or anything negative between them in either Dubai or at the two South Africa shows prior. Before the Dubai show both bands chatted to each other and took a group photo.
A few years ago I snapped a photo of Noodles and Tré backstage at either Hurricane or Southside Festival, not sure if that ever got shared. Essentially Tré came over to the Offspring's compound to say hi to everyone and chat.