“The Best Gig I Ever Saw” is a weekly column that will see us ask a musician to chat about their favorite concert thus far. This week it’s Jen Pop of San Diego punks the Bombpops…

Bad Religion was one of the first bands I saw live, I was 13, and I was never the same after that. I knew then and there that I was going to be in a punk band. But that’s not the show I’m talking about.

Last spring we were the opening band for the Punk in Drublic tour in Europe, featuring Anti-Flag, Less than Jake, Lagwagon, Bad Religion and NOFX. Every day of that tour felt like an absolute dream. These were the bands that I grew up on, and here we were opening the whole tour. I watched each band for at least a few songs every night, but I made sure to watch Bad Religion’s entire set every time. Usually, there were a bunch of other people on the tour watching as well, but one particular night, I found myself standing stage left with no one else around me (I watched them from stage left every night because Brian Baker stands stage left and he’s, hands down, my favorite guitarist). I was so intently locked in and completely in awe of them. They started playing “Fuck Armageddon… This is Hell,” and these red lights flooded the stage, it looked like everything was drenched in flames. Brian Baker was facing his amp with his arm raised above his head in the air, then he whipped around and just came pummeling in with that opening riff.

I got full-on goosebumps, and my eyes started tearing up, I felt like I was having a religious experience. This is Bad Religion, that’s not supposed to happen! But there is no other way to explain how I felt. A non-religious person, watching Bad Religion having what felt like a religious experience? I dunno know how that’s possible, but right then and there I knew that every little thing in my life had lead me right up to that very moment and I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

The Bombpops play with Masked Intruder, Potty Mouth and Decent Criminal at 8 p.m. on Saturday, October 5 at Alex’s Bar.