There is a moment — several of them, actually — on Me First and the Gimme Gimmes’ new live album “¡Blow It…At Madison’s Quinceañera!” when frontman Spike Slawson delivers some typical frontman-like rhetoric intended to engage the audience.

You know the kind: “How’s everybody doing?” And you’re used to hearing a chorus of cheers.

But not here. Not at this show.

“Blow it,” you see, was actually recorded at a Southern California quinceañera — a celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday common in Mexican and other Latin American cultures.

And it wasn’t a quinceañera for a Gimme Gimmes fan, or even the daughter of a Gimme Gimmes fan, Slawson said.

“Nobody knew us from Adam, so they weren’t particularly inclined to like us,” he said. “(Madison’s) mom liked the music and she was into it, but many people in the family were not so amused. And, you know, confusion is what we were going for.”

Some context: For nearly 30 years, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes have been one of the preeminent working cover bands — a supergroup made up of members of Lagwagon, The Ramones, Rocket From the Crypt, Swingin’ Utters, The Damned and NOFX playing punk rock versions of popular songs by artists ranging from Bob Dylan to Boyz II Men, Paula Abdul to Kenny Rogers, Tanya Tucker to Devo and the Beatles to the Muppets.

They have, as you might guess, always heavily employed humor as part of their shtick.

Which brings us back to “Blow It,” on which the cheering crowd you usually hear on live albums is replaced by the occasional polite handclap and a whole lot of awkward silence.

Tonally, it’s reminiscent of the great “anti-comedian” Andy Kaufman, who famously provoked and perplexed audiences with his unconventional, joke-free performance art.

“It was pretty touch-and-go in the beginning, and that’s the humor to me. That’s better than, like, (adding) applause (to a live album), like, ‘Yeah, we get it. People like you. You want people to know that people like you,’” Slawson said.

“That’s not really our bag. We kind of like to troll people, while at the same time hopefully closing the artistic circle and making them laugh — pushing them away and then bringing them back,” he continued. “We can’t forget our mission statement, which is that we’re the heels of any bill. We know our role and we know how to play it, and if you leave a show not knowing whether to feel amused or outraged or sad or awkward, then we’ve done our job.”

On the other hand, a concert in front of a room full of Gimme Gimme fans — like the one happening Tuesday in Bend — comes with the unambiguous joy of knowing all in attendance are on the same page.

“Ultimately, we do want positive reinforcement at the end of the show,” Slawson said. “We do want a positive experience, and we do want people to come back.”

If You Go

What: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, with The Schizophonics, Still Animals and DJ Thirst N Howl

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday, doors open 7 p.m.

Where: Midtown Ballroom, 51 NW Greenwood Ave., Bend

Cost: $28

Contact: midtownballroom.com