In case you have not been seing posts on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, the 2nd annual edition of the Calabash Music Festival happened over the weekend at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.
It was a fun-filled day which featured 3 amazing punk rock bands: SA legends Fokofpolisiekar and Californian Punk Royalty Green Day and The Offspring.
Here’s my review of Calabash 2025 at FNB Stadium
Fokofpolisiekar are one of my favourite local bands and they were the first act to play on the day. I’ve been following these boytjies since the mid 2000’s and hearing the majority of the then 40,000+ strong crowd singing along to their Afrikaans punk tracks made me smile from ear to ear.
I still remember watching my first Fokofpolisiekar show at Oppikoppi festival in 2004 and I think there were less than 600 people in front of the stage. It’s amazing what these Bellville boytjies have accomplished over the last 2 decades. They’ve really come a long way.
Fokofpolisiekar delivered one of their best performances to properly warm up the crowd for the internationals at Calabash 2025. I still get goosebumps thinking about it to be honest (and I’m sure that a lot of people that experienced their set feel the same way).
The Offspring made their way on the stage around 7 PM and the crowd completely lost their minds (especially peeps like me that missed them the first time they toured South Africa in 2004).
The band started out with “Come Out And Play”, “All I Want” and “Want You Bad”. Their nostalgic punk rock infused set also included songs like “Bad Habit”, “Gotta Get Away”, “Why Don’t You Get a Job”, “Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)”, “The Kids Aren’t Alright” and “Self Esteem” and holy crap! It was great singing along to all of them.
Seeing and hearing Dexter Holland (who is 59 years old) and Noodles (who is 61 years old) rocking out at Calabash 2025 filled me with me optimism and a lust for life (more than the Iggy Pop song ever did). Thanks dudes!
Before the Green Day set, the 52,000-strong crowd sang along loudly to Queen‘s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Yes, I know that this a stunt these Californian punk rockers have pulled in the past (we’ve all seen that Hyde Park video featuring this song on YouTube), but hearing this happening for real was amazing.
The band kicked off their set at Calabash 2025 with “American Dream” (a track on their 2024 Saviours album). Next up was “Basket Case”, “Long View”, “Welcome To Paradise”, “She” and “When I Come Around” (all tracks from their 1994 breakout album Dookie).
The rest of their set was made up of a mixed bag of song from their huge punk rock catalog. “Know Your Enemy”, “Hitchin’ A Ride” (from their Nimrod album), “21 Guns”, “Minority”, “American Idiot”, “Holiday”, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, “Wake Me Up When September Ends”, “Jesus Of Suburbia” and “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)” were included in the set list and the crowd enjoyed every second of it.
The band updated the lyrics of “American Idiot” to include the phrase “I’m not a part of an Elon agenda” (aimed at South African born tech mogul Elon Musk).
It’s not the first time that Billy Joe Armstrong (the frontman of Green Day) has done this though. The original lyric reads “I’m not part of the redneck agenda” (because it was aimed at then US President George W. Bush). He swopped the “redneck” part out for “MAGA” at the 2023/2024 edition of New Year’s Rockin’ Eve (obviously taking aim at Donald Trump supporters).
I was completely blown away by how good this band is live. It was so good that it’s made it into my top 10 list for live music performances. I hope they come back to South Africa again one day.
Kudos to Big Concerts for hosting Calabash 2025 at FNB Stadium. Thanks for the opportunity to photograph 3 of my favourite bands of all time. 17-year old me (who listened to Smash and Dookie on repeat) thanks you from the bottom of his heart.
Watch this space for updates in the Music category on Running Wolf’s Rant.
If you have nothing better to do with yourself, feel free to read my review of Calabash 2024.
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