Setlists: blink-182 , The All-American Rejects, Twin Atlantic.
I first discovered blink-182 when I was 10 years old and have been a firm fan ever since, so to say I was excited for this show would be an understatement. Whilst waiting for the doors to open, it became obvious that I wasn’t the only person who felt this way – there were thousands of people queuing alongside me, a whole host of both new and old fans who were ecstatic to see this legendary band, in celebration of their 20th anniversary. As Tom DeLonge (vocals and guitar) said during the show, blink-182 never expected to be headlining an UK arena tour 20 years prior to the gig. Their dream would easily have been fulfilled by playing clubs for the rest of their lives, and they would have been lucky to do that – yet here they are, selling out shows worldwide and playing to millions of dedicated fans across the planet.
Twin Atlantic.
These dedicated fans also include Scottish rockers Twin Atlantic, one of the supporting bands for a series of dates throughout the tour. During their set, frontman Sam McTrusty (lead vocals and rhythm guitar) reminisced over his first ever concert, which turned out to be blink-182, an experience shared with many of the audience before him. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from Twin Atlantic – though I had checked them out before the gig and thought they were fairly good, I’d heard from a variety of sources that they weren’t actually that great. However, all of these sources were so wrong – Twin Atlantic are incredible. It’s not often that you see a band that is really great live, and especially not a supporting band, but Twin Atlantic are one of the few bands that truly are. They worked their small set list and limited stage time to their advantage, progressing from lesser-known songs such as ‘Apocalyptic Renegade’ to what are potentially their biggest hits so far – ‘Make A Beast Of Myself’ and ‘Free.’ Listening back to their latest album now, I realise just how clever this band are – the majority of their songs are perfectly arena-worthy, with the loud guitar riffs, distinctive vocals and memorable melodies. Overall, Twin Atlantic are an amazing band with an equally amazing journey, which has developed from idolizing blink-182 to playing on the same bill as them. And maybe the best thing about this band is that it’s obvious that they are fully aware of how far they’ve come, and don’t take any of it for granted – they have as much fun onstage as the crowd do listening to them.
The All-American Rejects
This was also the case with The All-American Rejects who opened with one of their most well-known songs ‘Dirty Little Secret,’ a catchy song to which the crowd were incredibly receptive. By this point, the bright atmosphere of the crowd was contagious, the intensity electrifying; there wasn’t one unsmiling face in the entire venue. With this opening, I was expecting a fun set from this band, and so can’t help but feel a little disappointed with this band’s set list. They have so many brilliant songs that could have only enhanced the crowd’s mood, yet they played only a few of these songs, including what is, in my opinion, the best song on their new album – ‘Kids in the Street.’ However, this disappointment was soon forgotten due to frontman Tyson Ritter (lead vocals and bass guitar) who continually entertained the audience before him with what can only be described as cheeky banter and energetic dancing. Halfway through the set, he echoed Twin Atlantic’s McTrusty in reminiscing over his first concert; again, blink-182. To be supporting the band in the UK was obviously a huge honour for The All-American Rejects. Despite their mediocre set list, the band put 110% in their performance, playing with an upbeat energy, culminating with one of their best songs, ‘Gives You Hell.’ This was a huge crowd-pleaser and had everyone singing along, leaving everyone in the venue with high spirits in the wait before blink-182.
blink-182
Rocking straight into ‘Feeling This,’ blink-182 finally came on stage for their first UK tour since the announcement of their indefinite hiatus way back in 2005 with a backdrop of neighbourhood houses, paying homage to their comeback album ‘Neighborhoods.’ The fans went wild, singing along with their favourite band, who had been dearly missed. The set list (which can be viewed here) was a perfect mix of old and new, switching from ‘Up All Night,’ blink’s first single in 7 years, to the first song I ever heard by them, ‘The Rock Show.’ Every song was met with an unbelievable response from the crowd, with mosh pits and crowd surfing erupting from the very first song. By this point, the excitement had gotten too much for some people who had to be dragged out over the barriers. The newer songs marked an obvious change in blink-182’s music, with a more mature edge adding to their usual pop-punk sound; despite this edge, blink-182 will never be able to strive away from their younger days, with the obscene yet slightly genius lyrics of the closing song, ‘Family Reunion’ – this was reflected in the jokes made between songs, the bright backdrops of skulls and bananas, and also in the onstage atmosphere; between Tom, Mark (Hoppus, vocals and bass guitar) and Travis (Barker, drums), it was easy to tell how happy they were to be playing music together again. The atmosphere of the whole show was phenomenal; the fans came together as one, both young and old, shouting along and dancing to their favourite band without a care in the world. This was only emphasized in a surprise acoustic two-song set of ‘Reckless Abandon’ and ‘All Of This’ performed in the middle of the crowd by Mark and Tom halfway through the set – during this, Mark told the story of how one of the band’s biggest inspirations, Robert Smith (lead vocals for legendary band, The Cure) ended up singing on ‘All Of This,’ one of blink-182’s best songs and an absolutely incredible collaboration. After the raw sound of the guitars and the vocals from the acoustic set, Travis got to exhibit his extraordinary drumming talents, with ‘Can A Drummer Get Some’ from his 2011 solo album, accompanied by a striking light show and dancing provided by his children, Landon and Alabama. The band then performed their final three songs, with Mark’s famous pink bass guitar, featured in videos such as ‘The Rock Show,’ ‘Feeling This’ and ‘Always,’ making an appearance. Confetti cannons shot out over the fans and, with Mark announcing “this is what we in the industry call the grand finale…” before striking a final chord, the most perfect gig ever met its end.
Travis Barker’s drum solo
And though blink-182 are one of my favourite bands, when I say that the concert was perfect, I’m not biased in the slightest – though it may not be expected, blink-182 were genuinely completely flawless, despite being well into the UK leg of the tour. They sound exactly like they do on their albums, if not better – and it wasn’t just the band, it was the build-up, the atmosphere, the fans. Those who were attending their first ever gig will be left severely let-down by any other band they see because blink-182 were just incredible, amazing, awesome, out of this world. Even that doesn’t describe how good they were. The only thing slightly wrong with the show was that some of their best songs weren’t included in the set list (though obviously they can’t play all of their songs), including ‘This Is Home’ from the new album – the lyrics of which would have described the show perfectly – and those who are massive fans of blink-182’s early songs would also have been disappointed. The majority of blink’s greatest hits were also played very early on in the set list, though with so many amazing songs, this can’t be avoided; I fully expected them to close with ‘All The Small Things,’ not ‘Dammit’ or ‘Carousel.’ However, blink-182 are always going to a band that exceed everyone’s expectations, in the best way possible. And this is just one of the reasons that I am so unbelievably happy to have seen the trio who are best described as the pioneers of pop-punk. They have influenced, and led the way for, many different bands over the past 20 years of their outstanding career, from bands like All Time Low and (less obviously) Panic! At The Disco who began as a blink-182 cover band, to My Chemical Romance, whose guitarist, Frank Iero, skipped school in order to get a copy of blink’s debut album Cheshire Cat in 1994, and recently toured with as part of America’s renowned Honda Civic Tour. The past two decades have been incredible for blink-182, completely unparalleled by any other band, and I have no doubt that the band will only grow to be more of an inspiration to millions of fans, bands and music lovers across the globe for many years to come.
“The grand finale…”
My rating? As you can probably imagine, from everything I’ve written above, blink-182 get 10/10. They were truly amazing and I wish I was going to see them again already!
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