The Offspring Ignite Record-Setting Mosh Pit During Taylor Swift Cover at Hellfest 2026

The Offspring sparked what they hope is the largest mosh pit ever assembled for a Taylor Swift song during their Hellfest performance.

The punk legends made the attempt during their set at the French metal festival on Sunday, June 21, closing the 2026 edition with an energetic headline show.

After playing tracks such as “Come Out and Play,” “All I Want,” “Want You Bad,” and “Staring at the Sun,” Dexter Holland and the band surprised the audience with a cover of Taylor Swift’s 2008 hit “Love Story.”

Before launching into the song midway through their 17‑song set, Holland urged the crowd to start moshing and expressed confidence that they would create a historic moment.

“We’re going to have the biggest mosh pit to a Taylor Swift song ever,” he said. “You’ll help us make history tonight.”

The band dove into the “Fearless”‑era track, adding their signature pop‑punk twist as a massive pit opened up. See the moment below.

Besides that cover, the group also played a brief excerpt of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” followed by a full rendition of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train.”

They additionally performed Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” before launching into fan favorites including “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy),” “The Kids Aren’t Alright,” “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid,” and “Self Esteem.”

The Offspring’s Hellfest setlist was:

‘Come Out and Play’
‘All I Want’
‘Want You Bad’
‘Staring at the Sun’
‘Hammerhead’
‘Bad Habit’
‘Paranoid’ (Black Sabbath cover)
‘Crazy Train’ (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ (Edvard Grieg cover)
‘Love Story’ (Taylor Swift cover)
‘Hit That / Original Prankster’
‘Gotta Get Away’
‘Why Don’t You Get a Job?’
‘Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)’
‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’
‘You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid’
‘Self Esteem’

Other headliners at Hellfest 2026 included Bring Me The Horizon on Thursday, June 18, Iron Maiden on Friday, June 19, and Limp Bizkit on Saturday, June 20.

This weekend, The Offspring will be playing a huge outdoor show at London’s Crystal Palace Park, with special guests Dropkick Murphys, Pennywise, PUP and Destroy Boys. Set for Sunday, June 26, the band said of the upcoming show: “Nobody rocks like the UK rocks. This is gonna be a great day out.”

Before the Hellfest slot, the band wrapped up their “Supercharged Worldwide In ‘25” North American tour, reuniting on stage in Los Angeles with the star of the “Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)” video.

That tour supported The Offspring’s 11th and most recent studio album, “Supercharged,” and Noodles and Holland spoke to NME last year about the LP, saying they “wanted to make a record that was quintessentially Offspring.”

In the interview, they also recalled sharing the stage with Ed Sheeran and Brian May, and described Yungblud as their “hype‑man” when he performed live with them.

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