Hark the Herald Offspring Sing: It's never going to be easy to lose a headliner, and it wasn't easy for KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas. Clearly, the majority of people at any concert are there for the final band and, even though in this case the headliner was supposed to be the Red Hot Chili Peppers and this writer holds the subjective view that they have been insufferable throughout their career, losing said headliner is a massive loss for the organizers.

So what did KROQ do? They bumped the Offspring up to headline status, and added 311 at the last minute. Was that enough to save the show? Well yeah, but more on that in a minute.

Almost Acoustic Christmas is always, year after year, a party. On Saturday, Canadian alt-punks the Beaches kicked things off with a high energy set of infectious, power-pop tunes that included one called "Blame Brett" (no offense taken, ladies).

Bakar, from Camden Town in London, impressed with an indie rock vibe despite the fact that he and his DJ were the only people on stage. Lovejoy received some of the biggest screams heard by Brits in America since One Direction. The Brighton band only formed in 2021, but they've already released four EPs and their hyper cool, cynical delivery recalls the Arctic Monkeys and Pulp in all of the right ways.

L.A. indie-pop act Cannons marked the point where the ball really started to get rolling though. Michelle Joy and the boys massaged the crowd through an eight song set that was simultaneously hypnotic and energizing. "Hurricane" and "Bright Lights" were highlights, but there were no lowlights.

Bleachers were the second best band of the night and, given some of the names on the poster, that might surprise some people. They arrived on stage to the festive sounds of "Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, in tribute to Shane MacGowan who recently departed this mortal realm. That got the cellphone lights shining on all sides. Then Bleachers blasted straight into "I Want to Get Better," and the Forum went wild.

Bleachers is of course Jack Antonoff, who also plays in Fun. and has written and produced all of the contemporary pop premier leaguers (Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, St. Vincent, Florence + the Machine, Lorde, etc). But this set was all about him, and songs like "Modern Girl" were spectacular.

The last time this writer saw Portugal. The Man, they were wowing Coachella in 2018. It took them about that long to release their latest album, this year's Chris Black Changed My Life, a tribute to a fallen friend. The songs from that, including "Dummy" and "Summer of Luv" sounded great at AAC, while classics such as "Live in the. Moment" and "Feel it Still" had the crowd singing along like choir.


Scottish-American electro-rock titans Garbage had to cut their set short due to a scuffle breaking out during "Wolves." Shirley Manson, forever a rock queen, was having none of it. But still, what they did play was awesome. "Stupid Girl" and "Only Happy When it Rains" might the biggest singalongs, but "Push It" was the perfect way to leave with a wallop.

Now, we have to be grateful to 311 because they stepped in at the last minute when the Chili Peppers dropped out (because guitarist John Frusciante broke a finger). They pulled this together at lightning speed, and that's impressive. But still, what isn't impressive is their godawful music. They weren't headlining, so we were forced to sit through them while waiting for the Offspring, and it honestly was an endurance test.

Music is subjective, of course it is. Lots of people seemed to be excited to see 311. But to this writer, their music has always stank of frat-reggae, inauthenticity and flat beer.

Thank god for the Offspring, who saved the night with a set that proved they should always have been headlining, Chilis or no Chilis. The Offspring are better anyway. Every single song, start to finish, was a banger. They opened with "Come Out and Play" from the bonafide classic Smash album, and we also got "Bad Habit," "The Kids Aren't Alright," and "Self Esteem."

When they played "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" they had a couple of tube men, those things you see on car lots,  decked out like the poser in the video. We also got beach balls and confetti cannons.

It was a triumphant way to end the night. Chili Peppers fans can hold onto their ticket and come back in March for a make-up show, which is nice. But we're more than happy with the Offspring.

Visit audacy.com/kroq for more info.

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