The Offspring Says Opening for The Who ‘Hasn’t Even Sunk in’ (Exclusive)

The Offspring formed in the mid-80s and have performed all over the world — but it wasn’t until Friday night in Los Angeles that a “beyond bucket list” moment happened.

While attending the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, Sept. 20, The Offspring spoke exclusively to PEOPLE about their experience of opening for The Who at the iconic Hollywood Bowl the night before.

“It’s almost like it hasn’t even sunk in,” frontman Dexter Holland tells PEOPLE. “

“They’re beyond huge. They’re so big,” he adds, speaking of The Who. “It’s like they’ve just always been part of your life, if you know what I mean.”

The nostalgic punk band only found out they would have the opportunity to share a stage with the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers earlier this month. 

“We’ve been a big fan since, as long as I can remember, and this just kind of fell in our lap about two weeks ago,” guitarist Noodles (real name Kevin John Wasserman) said. “It wasn’t even confirmed until about a week and a half ago.”

The English rock band, fronted by vocalist Roger Daltrey, 81, and guitarist Pete Townshend, 80, has said their tour, which ends on Oct. 1, will be the end of the road.

If that’s true, they’re going out in style, The Offspring members say. 

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“They were phenomenal. They put on a great show. The venue was the Hollywood Bowl, a legendary venue. So it was just incredible. We’re still on a high from it,” Noodles, 62, says, before joking that Daltrey and Townshend weren’t exactly begging for The Offspring to join the bill.  

“We got to do a photo with Roger and Pete right before they took the stage, and Dexter says, ‘Thank you for letting us open up for you.’ And Pete says, ‘We had absolutely nothing to do with this,’” Noodles recalls. “Okay, that’s fair. It was honest. So I told him that. I appreciate your honesty. He was great.”

Still, the iconic rockers “couldn’t have been nicer,” Holland, 59, adds. “[Townshend] asked how it went for us. I said, ‘Great. We warmed him up for you. They’re warm. They’re warm now.’ It was beyond bucket list.”

Before sharing the stage with more music royalty such as John Fogerty, Mariah Carey and their pal Ed Sheeran at the iHeartRadio Music Festival on Saturday, The Offspring paid tribute to The Who on Instagram.

“A massive thank you to The Who for having us at your final Los Angeles show. What an incredible honor!!!” they captioned the Sept. 20 post.