TORONTO - With the annual Vans Warped Tour hitting town in a couple of weeks but in terms of known or established punk bands rather weak this year, Friday night’s NOFX gig might be the closest thing fans might get to reliving past glories.

Well, past glories and Fat Mike.

As the equally caustic, confrontational and comedic lead singer of the longtime California punk band, Fat Mike has done several things to irk people in recent years, including reportedly spiking tequila at a 2010 South By Southwest gig with urine. But while the singer has recently said it was all a hoax, it’s doubtful many on this night would be accepting a drink from him.

Nonetheless, NOFX – having released its last studio album in 2009 and currently on a cross-country The Great White NOFX Tour – basically churned out a hits package for well over an hour teeming with manic drumming and no-nonsense old-school punk riffs.

However, songs such as the opener Pharmacist’s Daughter and later with the frantic, hellishly-paced The Separation Of Church And Skate occasionally seemed like a respite from the jibes the band delivered.

“They weren’t drunk they were stupid,” Fat Mike quipped early on about the audience in London the night before, or “Strawville” as he dubbed it. Equally sharp but witty was guitarist El Hefe (Aaron Abeyta) who chastised a fan for tossing a t-shirt in his direction. “It’s not very nice tossing a medium-sized t-shirt to a large guy,” he said.

Thankfully though the digs at fans and places were secondary to some hardcore punk songs such as Mattersville and the short, pointed Murder The Government which isn’t a timely now that former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney is out of office.

NOFX also had the crowd onside from the beginning, with a massive mosh pit in front causing some to head for safer ground while others sought out the bruising, sweaty havoc. It was definitely not for the weak of heart or of limb.

The group also displayed a small yellow backdrop with their name on it. However Fat Mike then showed a much smaller backdrop which he said Halifax was shown on a recent stop. He quickly added Winnipeg’s would be even smaller.

Other highlights included Herojuana, The Bag, Linoleum, We Called It America, Seeing Double At The Triple Rock, the reggae-laced Eat The Meek which mellowed things out in the pit for a while and The Malachi Crunch.

As for one or two additional between-song highlights, bassist Eric Melvin offered up a short snippet of the Black Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling which caused boos and Fat Mike said Saturday night’s show would consist of an almost entirely different set with “the better songs.”

Earlier in the night, Teenage Bottlerock delivered an exhausting 30-minute set of endless rapid-fire punk songs. And punk bluegrass outfit Old Man Markley went over quite well, including Ryan Markley swinging a washboard he was playing around his neck.

Swinging a washboard around one’s neck? Yet another item checked off my bucket list.