"We're not Rocket From the Crypt,'' said Bryan "Dexter"

Holland. The crowd had pretty much figured it out by that point. No, it was

those punk do-gooders the Offspring, with another surprise hometown show for an

Orange County crowd that was expecting to see San Diego's Rocket From the Crypt

open for Rancid at a sold-out benefit show Friday night (April 19). But Rocket

singer John Reis had suffered a slipped disc in his back. This had forced

Rocket to drop off a Thursday night (April 18) show at the Glass House in

Pomona; the Beastie Boys performing as "Quasar" were the replacement band that

night. But on Saturday, it was the Offspring (which share manager Jim Guerinot

with Rancid) who agreed to fill in for a night of hits and a peek at the band's

next album. So a couple of thousand fans at Chapman University's Hutton Sports

Center -- packed a wee bit past capacity? -- got a show that likely could have

nearly filled nearby Irvine Meadows Amphitheater.

Long story short: Rancid

still ruled the show, with moshing and surfing every bit as intense on songs

such as "Roots Radical" and "Black and Blue" as on hits "Time Bomb" and "Ruby

Soho." In fact, the Offspring's biggest cheers came when Rancid's Lars

Frederiksen popped on-stage to deliver the "You gotta keep 'em separated"

tagline in "Come Out and Play." The only allusion to the bands' troubles with

their shared record company, Epitaph, was when the Offspring performed some new

material. Guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman noted that the band had "a

fuckin' lot of new songs ... for whoever wants to do a record with us." Or,

given the bad acoustics of the gym, he may have said nothing of the sort. For

the record, the new material features Holland's soaring vocals in front of some

breakneck, yet restrained, guitar work -- if that makes any sense. The bands,

along with Orange County punkers U.S. Bombs, raised $5,000 for Mary's Kitchen,

a food bank. The Offspring haven't appeared live since last December's "Rock

For Choice" benefit. Addicted To Noise L. A. correspondent Brian Gross

also contributed to this report.