Veteran punk rockers Rancid were the first headlining act to invade the Loudmouth Stage on the opening day at Louder Than Life in Louisville, Kentucky on Thursday, September 21, 2023.
The Berkeley, California band ripped through a 22-song set, spanning through their deep catalog of 10 studio albums.
Lars Frederiksen, vocals and guitar, showered the raucous crowd with admiration near the end of their set.
“Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, before we play our last song I know I want to say, from all of us, thank-you for the last 30-plus years in this band,” Frederiksen said.
“Couldn’t have done it without you. Seriously, thank-you so much. It’s a pleasure to come back to your fair city. Thank-you for your time, your patience, your voices, your applause. This is going to be our last one, it’s called ‘Ruby Soho’.”
Also during his closing monologue, Frederiksen jokingly pointed out a first for the band, which took place during their Louder Than Life set.
“Thanks to the guy in the pit with the cowboy hat that’s been waving it for the whole show,” he said.
“You play in a band for 30-plus years and you finally get the guy with the cowboy hat in the middle of the pit, waving it through the whole show. Check.”
Fellow vocalist and guitarist Tim Armstrong, a founding member of Rancid, climbed off the stage during the ‘Ruby Soho’ encore, hanging over the rail into the rowdy crowd, singing and playing his guitar.
Here is the full Rancid setlist from their Louder Than Life spot:
1. Roots Radicals
2. Tomorrow Never Comes
3. Radio
4. Maxwell Murder
5. The 11th Hour
6. Black & Blue
7. Journey to the End of the East Bay
8. East Bay Night
9. Listed M.I.A.
10. I Wanna Riot
11. Salvation
12. Something in the World Today
13. Ghost of a Chance
14. Side Kick
15. The Wars End
16. Old Friend
17. Rejected
18. Tenderloin
19. Olympia WA.
20. Fall Back Down
21. Time Bomb
22. Ruby Soho
Here are photos from Rancid’s performance by Steve Thrasher:
Rancid is Armstrong, Frederiksen, bass guitarist Matt Freeman and drummer Branden Steineckert.
Here are more details about Rancid’s latest album release:
Carrying the same raw energy since their 1991 inception, Rancid has been deemed by Stereogum as “incapable of making a bad album.” Today, the Berkeley, California, punk stalwarts continue that streak with the announcement of their highly anticipated 10th studio album. ‘Tomorrow Never Comes’ is due for a June 2nd release via Epitaph Records, produced by longtime collaborator, Bad Religion guitarist and Epitaph founder, Brett Gurewitz.
Their first new music since 2017’s Trouble Maker, the band also shared the exhilarating title track and lead single. Highlighting their collective ear for melodic rock hooks and catchy, sing-a-long choruses, the song is complete with the familiar wailing guitars and punishing punk rock rhythms that have solidified Rancid as the legends they are.
At a whopping 850-million catalog streams to date, fans and critics alike seem to agree that Rancid’s brand of high impact, no frills punk still flows abundantly in their blood, while easily translating to a modern audience. Now embarking on their tenth full-length effort, this is evident throughout ‘Tomorrow Never Comes’. With its sixteen blistering tracks barely making the two-and-a-half-minute mark, the album boasts the same gritty, straight forward punk-with-a-purpose that the world just can’t get enough of.
On their last studio album, Trouble Maker (2017), Pitchfork explored the band’s themes of “contemporary political turmoil–blue-collar identity crises, tense demonstrations, the ever-present shadow of the Man– through the prism of their rebellious past, a little more wizened but just as rambunctious as ever.”
Punk News also raved, “Rancid makes a radical left turn from the norm, pushing far past the boundaries, not just of punk, but of the traditional rules of music itself, creating the most original sound to come out of any musical artist since Beethoven.”
Throughout the last three decades, Rancid has remained fiercely independent, never losing their loyalty to their community or each other. Their music confronts political and social issues, while balancing personal tales of love, loss, and heartbreak with attitude. By carrying on the traditions and spirit of the original punk rock bands that came before, Rancid has become a legend and inspiration to punk bands that have come after.
More details about the band can be found on their official website https://rancidrancid.com/.