Thursday 14 June 2012

Blink 182 @ o2 Arena, London (08/06/2012)


    Eleven years ago, Pop Punk heroes Blink-182, Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker took to the charts with their debut album Cheshire Chat, in 2004, the same year Barker actually joined the band. The o2 Arena, London, with its 16,000 capacity venue held host to hordes of Blink fans of all ages who were welcomed with a fantastic night from the Pop Punk trio.

    With support from Four Years Strong and All-American Rejects, both of which really warmed the crowd of and were perfectly selected for the audience in hand. It’s clear, after their 2005 break-up, and re-launch four years later, as well as postponing the show for a year, fans were more than welcome to finally welcome the trio to the stage. The wide range of tracks on the setlist proves the promise that Blink would play as many songs from their latest album Neighborhoods, as it was the reason they gave for putting the tour off last year. And after all this waiting, the crowd is chock-a-block with anticipation.

Blink-182

    The lights and visual displays the band and their management have created for the tour were incredible, as just the right amount of enhancement to the set. The grey and black colour scheme, humours images and monstrous confetti match the much improved live musical ability of the threesome.

    Opening with ‘Feeling This’, ‘Up All Night’ and ‘The Rock Show’, Blink 182 are as spectacular at the start as they are at the end of the start. Despite the members well and truly meeting middle age and parenthood, their talent and light-hearted spirit that have carried them through all these years, dragging fans with them, shines through. Although the crowd isn’t as frantic and sweaty as younger Pop Punk audiences, it only reflects how the fans have matured along with the band, but still love to enjoy old Blink classics like ‘What’s My Age Again?’ and ‘Down.’

    Fresher tracks like ‘Wishing Well’, ‘After Midnight’, ‘Heart’s All Gone’ and ‘Ghost on the Dancefloor’ go down a storm however and the crowd look alive from start to finish. The improvement in the bands technical live skill is immense, even since shows just a couple of years ago, proving that they really work to please their fans. The band’s quirky, childish humour fit seamlessly with fan favourites such as ‘I Miss You’, ‘Blow Job Song’, ‘Dumpweed’, ‘Violence’ and ‘Always’.



       Although the sound is not fantastic in the o2, Blink 182 always know how to keep the crowd interested and cater to all. ‘First Date’, ‘Man Overboard’, ‘Fuck a Dog’, ‘All the Small Things’ and ‘Josie’ bring the set to a close, after which Mark Hoppus lightly explains that the band will go off stage for a while and pretend the show’s over, keeping the jokey, young feeling alive. The encore, with a classic Travis Barker drum solo of ‘Can the Drummer Yet Some’ reflects that he’s easily the most talented member of the band, despite his apparent quiet personality.

   Ending with ‘Carosel’, Damnit’ and ‘Family Reunion’, as well as floods of slow-falling confetti, Blink 182 have really brought the house down and show they really deserve their heroic status.