Live: blink-182

Headliner: blink-182
Support: Neck Deep
Where: Brixton Academy
When: 8th August 2014
Reviewed By: Quinn

Disclaimer: I am a life long blink-182 fan. I have two blink tattoos; I flew to the US to see them in 2009 on their re-union tour on my own; I dragged myself out of bed at a ridiculous time in the morning to go and meet Mark Hoppus in Hyde Park one cold Autumn morning a couple of years back; I have countless vinyl, a box full of CDs, albums, singles, imports.  I have nearly 1000 bootlegged tracks from live shows in my iTunes library. Travis Barker is my inspiration for playing drums and Tom is the reason I have my lip pierced.  So obviously you would expect me to rant and rave about how awesome last Friday night's show was with a heavily biased view. Well, yes and no. What I am going to do is review the show as objectively as possible, whilst drawing on shows throughout the years to compare their performance to those that have come before.

The first time I saw blink-182 was in February 2004 at their Hammersmith Apollo show, followed shortly after by their December show at Wembley Arena. Then they split up. I've seen then seven times in total so I'll draw from those shows as well as the countless videos online (before YouTube, only available to download via torrent services such as WinMX and LimeWire for those that can remember that far back) that span their entire career.

Now, without a doubt one of the best eras blink has had as a band is during the Untitled album period of 2003/04. It was at this time their music really came into a world of it's own and their live performances hit their pique for their career until that point. It's from this era that blink open their show, as they have done at every show since 2004, with Feeling This.

Usually a curtain will go up covering the stage so that you can't see the band walk out, and it will fall away as soon as Travis starts the opening beats of Feeling This. Not this time. The stage is left open so the band can be seen walking out onto the stage, eliciting raucous cheers from the 5000-strong crowd at Brixton. This continues through the first verse of the song, which is somewhat a blessing in disguise as it is clear to me that Mark's vocal level isn't quite right because it's lost in the cacophony of noise coming from the stage. Luckily, it's rectified by the time his lead vocal on the chorus kicks in and that is the last of any sound problems for the evening.

Feeling This has been and always will be their best song to open on. It's a real classic that bridges the gap between blink of old and blink of new. It's fast and energetic and it has sections the crowd can belt back at the band in a classic tipping of the microphone to the audience kind of way. It also demonstrates how far the band has come performance-wise, especially when you look back to live shows around the time of Enema of the State and Take off your Pants and Jacket. At those times they really were quite bad live, however fond your memories are of them from that time. Just look to videos on YouTube (Sydney Big Day Out in 2000 is a good example) and it feels as though they aren't quite playing in unison, something is always ever so slightly off and Tom hits bum notes on the guitar throughout. They also power through their tracks like they are in a rush to get to the end, something which lasted all the way through to their hiatus in 2005.

Now, though, you can really tell that they have dialled back on the tempos of their tracks live, playing, I suspect, the speed they were recorded, or if not a few BPMs faster to give them a little more energy. This is patently clear as we go into What’s My Age Again and Rock Show. Both songs have the pace and fluidity of the studio tracks, which allows some of the nuance to come through that is always lost when you play really fast. It gives the band time to breathe both literally and metaphorically whilst they are playing and allows them to hit out tracks that are near studio perfect, something that has only recently started to happen since their reunion….  5 years ago. They have been back together now longer than they were apart. Let's just let that sink in for a moment.

Tom especially is on form, with his vocals being spot on. Not the waving, whining off key voice that is often associated with his live singing. There was a time in recent years when it was very hit and miss as to how he would perform vocally but now, more often than not, he is in tune each and every time. One possible exception is from last year's Untitled 10th anniversary tour, which saw the band play a number of dates around California to celebrate the release of their ground-breaking album. If you look at the Blizzcon show in-particular (which you can watch in full on YouTube) his voice is often all over the place and out of time, especially in I'm Lost Without You where it is so bad you can hear the backing track the band have subtly playing behind the live performance to give everything that little bit of oomph, and fill in the gaps left by having only three musicians on stage playing songs with layered tracks.

If I were a betting man I'd say that it's most likely they had the same kind of backing track there last night because it is becoming a tool that professional bands use to improve their shows. If they did, however, it wasn't at all noticeable, especially as they played Up All Night which is the first track in the set to come from their releases post-reformation and the one track I expected it to be felt the most owing to the prominent guitar and electronic effects present on this track and throughout the Neighborhoods album.

Now I'm not sure if it is because the track has quite a weird intro rhythmically or whether it was because the band were a tad out of time here but something felt very wrong with the way this song was started, and it continued right up the the second part of the intro where the guitars really kick in and the beat changes from a half time kick and rolling 16ths across the hats and ride to a straight 1/8 notes that push the song up a gear.

It's been a very strong opening set of tracks, so much so Tom jokes that their job is done and they can now leave. Thankfully they don't but I take this opportunity to manoeuvre myself away from the centre of the crowd to the bar to get another drink. I know what's coming; Wednesday's set list was posted on the band’s Twitter feed the day before and as cool as Down can be, I'm never really comfortable with it live. Much like Up All Night in some respects it works better in the context of the album it features on and not a standalone track. Travis' beats are cool but the rest of the song, chorus especially, can drag a little.

Once at the back I can actually see perfectly clearly (unlike my previous position) so I decided to stay, prop-up the bar and watch the rest of the show from there. I've been doing this more and more over the years and I would recommend it to anyone watching a band they have seen a couple of times already, to hold back a little and watch from a vantage point that is a little more comfortable and easier to see as you'll really be able to take in everything the band is doing, musically and visually as a performance, rather than getting lost in the excitement of a crowd jumping about and running around in circles.

It seems fitting at this point to talk about blink's stage dressing. To kick the show off they had a banner covering the back of the stage with the famous smiley face logo in pink and black. After the first track it fell away to reveal a bank of flood lights, five blocks with probably 20 bulbs each, that changed in different ways throughout different songs, sometimes used to light the stage, other times to spell out the band's name or just to display cool patterns. A couple more songs in and the lights move to incorporate two video screens that project different combinations of Mark, Tom, and Travis playing. This continues throughout the show right up until the encore where an additional feature is added, which I’ll talk about when the time comes.

I Miss You, Dumpweed and Wishing Well are up next, each with their own merits and dare I say it, draw backs. I Miss You whilst popular is somewhat of a boring song to hear live. It's only when it comes to the outro that the band really shines because they up the ante to this raucous rock and roll ending of loud guitars, heavy bass and epic drum soloing. They have been doing this ever since the track was released and it is always a pleasure to watch, especially Travis as he goes off into his own little world of blistering single stroke rolls and cross over stick fills.

Dumpweed is a firm fan favourite, and used to emphasise the roots that the band grew from at a time when everything was changing for them. New drummer, new record deal, new writing styles and song structures that moved away from generic fast paced pop-punk into the pop-rock genre and finally world tours that saw them playing in the same cities twice within the same year, the venues growing each time as they sold more and more records, eventually going five times Platinum.

The drawback here for anyone that has seen blink at any time over the last five years is that it is always this song that is used as the one track from their pre-hiatus period that isn't a single or a hit you'd expect to hear. This is where their sets are beginning to suffer; there is little room for anything that wasn't a hit single in case there are crowd members watching them for the first time. Granted there are album tracks later in the set, but they are from much later albums, and there is only one track from Cheshire Cat and one track from Dude Ranch in the entire set. Maybe if they removed Hybrid Moments by The Misfits which is a cover and a new addition that comes later on, they'd be able to squeeze in something like M&Ms, Peggy Sue or Pathetic instead.

Wishing Well being one of the better tracks on Neighborhoods is a welcome addition in recent years, much more so than After Midnight which we were expecting to come later but didn't thanks god, because it is the worst song blink-182 have ever recorded.

Always is always a fun track to hear live and one I always look forward to [note to self: stop saying always]. It was omitted from their 2004 set lists, which I always [shit!] found an odd choice and a great disappointment because it is an excellent song and at the time it was their current single. Luckily it has been in their set since 2009 and Tom has had fun with it each time, changing lyrics to things like “I’m so sick of blow-jobs, I hate them, lets start this again for real, dad” injecting some of the old humour blink were famous for at the start of their career.

Speaking of humour, there is little of it between songs, opting to play as much music is possible, but the boys do find time to have a bit of banter on stage. At one point Mark recited the old joke from The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show “oxygen and oral sex to the stage please” as well as on several occasions giving a little history on the Geneva Convention, which worked because it is out of place and because of how seriously he gave these brief, 20 second lectures.

Stay Together for the Kids is up next, a song that has been present at every show the last few years. It’s definitely a fan favourite and blink play it brilliantly; I'm just not sure it has the same impact now than it did on first release or in 2009/10 when the band toured for the first time in nearly five years. During the 2009/10 tours, there was something rather symbolic about a band that had split up for four years and hadn't spoken for most of that time, playing a song called Stay Together for the Kids. It was emotional for everyone, band and audience, to hear it at these new shows. Blink-182 fans will know that Tom famously cried during their performance of this song at Reading Festival in 2010. I was there. My mate and I guess many others of the 80,000 strong crowd cried too. Fast forward four years and it's now just a fondly remembered track from a time when blink couldn't do anything wrong. They extended the bridge here, which they have done previously with songs such as Feeling This, to allow a little extra time before the vocals come back in. With Feeling This it is understandable because Mark sings the last and first words of the bridge and chorus which overlap. In the past Tom would sing the last part of bridge, giving Mark the chance to catch his breath and come back in with the chorus. Now they choose to play an extra measure or two which works, but can be detrimental to the song as it messes with the structure everyone is used to.

At the end of the track Mark declares he played a wrong note in the final chorus and asks Tom and Travis to play two measures of the riff again so he can get it right. I've seen him do this a few times recently, so I'm not sure if it's a bit that he is doing at every show, or something he does every once in a while when he messes up.

If we had been at the Wednesday night show, as mentioned before we would have had After Midnight next. Thankfully it is replaced with the far superior Asthenia (sucks to be Wednesday’s crowd) followed by First Date, further emphasising their move away in recent years of playing hard and fast, instead giving focus to what makes the song great, which is a nice, quick paced, catchy pop tune.

Now for some disappointment.  Had we been at the show on Wednesday we would have had Dogs Eating Dogs next, a fine track from their 2012 EP of the same name. Instead the band opt to play Easy Target followed immediately by All of This. There's nothing inherently wrong with these tracks except I would have much preferred to hear the newer material, considering they haven't been to the UK since it's release. Also, All of This really doesn't suit Mark’s voice. It's written for Robert Smith of The Cure, who sings on the studio track and also performed it with the band live in December of 2004. Mark struggles to reach some of the more sombre notes and it lets it down immensely. Maybe they were looking for a slower number to throw into the near mid-point of the set, which is fine and it is one of their slowest tracks, however they could have done what they did in 2012 and play two or three acoustic versions of old tracks with Travis on a small cocktail kit at the front of the stage. Unfortunately they chose to go this route and I think it lets the set down because until this point (my own objections to Down earlier on) the set has been perfect.

And then we are given The Misfits cover I mentioned earlier on. It's short, it's fast, it's punk rock.  It isn't blink-182. Move on.

I often wonder if Mark and Tom feel weird playing Man Overboard regularly these days. It certainly wasn't present much in the years prior to their hiatus yet is it ostensibly about Scott Raynor's departure from the band in 1998 due to his alcoholism. Granted, plenty of time has passed since then, yet as a musician, there is a part of you (even if only on a subconscious level) that remembers the original themes and writing of a song whilst you are playing it. Maybe Mark and Tom can choose to ignore this knowing that it keeps the fans happy and pumped up, singing along as they have done throughout the entire set to every word.

It's interesting to note at this point the crowd doesn't appear to be as varied in age as I though it might be. Blink-182 are one of those bands that continuously pick up fans from the teenage bracket as kids grow up and start to discover the wider world of music. I expected to see a lot of 16 year-olds but from my acute observation the majority of the crowd was at least 20+ and possibly closer to my age and older.

The final track of the evening to come from the post-hiatus releases is Ghost on the Dance Floor, cementing the fine mix between old and new, and demonstrating the wide range of different styles blink indulged over the years. This is one of my favourite tracks on Neighborhoods for the sole reason that it harbours the best vocal harmony on any blink record. Mark's backing vocals during the verses are beautiful to listen to and he pulls them off brilliantly live, which is a blessing because I have noticed over the last few years his voice starting to struggle in certain places(especially with punchier numbers). Here, though, he holds the notes and follows the melody perfectly and it really is a pleasure to see it performed for us.

As we enter the tail end of the show, we are left with the most obvious songs to come, although I am dismayed by the crowds reaction to the next track.  During the opening chords of All the Small Things the crowd gives off the loudest cheer of the evening. Louder than when the band first walked on stage. Is All the Small Things really your favourite song, Brixton? I know it is their most well-known track amongst your average person, but we are 5000 people that ought to represent the hardcore fan base, we are the ones that know every word to every song, we buy the merch and get tattoos. Sometimes fly to the other side of the world to see them play. Are we really saying their 1999 pop single is their best song? Really? With nearly 200 others to choose from? Shame on you!

They finish off the main set with Carousel. Once famously the track Mark had to sit down to play, he now stands proud playing the opening bass line of a track written over 20 years ago. The only track in the set to come from their first major release, Cheshire Cat, and a song worthy of crowd appraisal. There are so many tracks from the early to mid 90’s that blink could play as I have hinted before, but Carousel for some reason sits in people's hearts. Maybe it's because it is a song that speaks some truth and honesty about growing up and has a simple message and social commentary: “a tank of gas is a treasure to me, I know now that nothing is free” for example: that once you leave school, times can be tough, but stick at it as they will get better, “just you wait and see”.

It's at this point that the band break for the prerequisite five minute rest before returning to play two more songs. I've never understood why bands do this.  Encores are supposed to be the crowd demanding a little more, not bands walking off two tracks before the end only to come back on again and play them regardless. In this instance though there seems to be good reason. Usually it's to allow Travis to set up for his flying drum solo, but tonight it's to set up the Pièce de résistance of their backdrop...The Flaming 'Fuck'.
Last seen on stage with the band in the TOYPAJ era, it has become a symbol of a younger, much more immature band and it contrasts heavily with first song they play once they return to the stage.

Violence works so well live (although the pre-recorded intro did loop a little too long for my liking) because apart from being one of those tunes you absolutely open your lungs up to, it's fast, it's angry and it has Mark and Tom singing in tandem. It also gives Travis a little room for soloing over the intro and outros, which is nice because a full drum solo is missing from tonight's set. It serves as a reminder of a time when blink did angst and experimentation really well. It is this track and Stockholm Syndrome that I remember most fondly from their 2004 shows, because they are some of the mostly deeply mature and emotional material the band has written, which to a 16-year old having grown up listening to happy go lucky pop-punk songs is a revelation.

After over an hour and a half, the show comes to a close as always, with Dammit. I'm not sure what it is about this track that gets me and everyone else so excited, but a shiver is sent down my spine every time that first C note is played, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and my heart starts racing. Tonight it is no different for me or anyone else in the crowd; except those that are leaving to beat the traffic … or beat their meat! Flaming fuck those guys.

As has become customary they come out of Dammit straight into Family Reunion, just to prove they are not completely mature adults with wives and kids (who can be seen hanging around at the back and side of the stage) and that there is still a glimmer of sweary youth left in them.

As the final notes are left to ring out the band and their kids throw guitar picks, drum sticks, stickers and other memorabilia into the crowd and Mark gives us one final treat for the evening by showing off his drumming skills. Those of you that remember the Honda Civic Tour in 2011 may remember a series of videos that the band posted online from on the road. In one of them it shows Mark strapping into Travis' flying drum kit contraption and being raised up over an empty arena during the load in and sound check.  At the time he playfully hits the drums in the way a student of 6 months learning may do. Now, he has reached the level of a student of 12 months, being able to hold a steady rock beat with the occasional off beat kick and basic fill.  After a few bars he stands up, arms in the air to a final round of applause and cheers from the remaining crowd before walking off stage and the house lights come on signalling for everyone to leave and get fucking soaked by the torrentially down pour of rain that greeted us outside.

If you've made it this far thanks for reading. It was an amazing evening as blink shows usually are and I wanted to get down everything I have felt about the band's tracks and live performances over the years. Whatever you may think of them they put on an amazing show, full of hits and bangers and every other words music journalists use to describe amazing, catchy, emotional, sometimes thought-provoking music.

I want to finish on a more sober note, which is ironic because I have been drinking for the last 1500 words. As I have re-lived last night's show and the nostalgia that comes with it, I am reminded that when I saw blink in June 2012 I was with my friend Dan Harris. That was the last time I saw Dan because he was tragically killed in a road accident in August of that year. This occurred to me last night as I watched blink play and I silently raised a pint to him. This will probably become a recurring theme for me over the years at every blink show I attend from now until they eventually give up the ghost and call it a day. Blink-182 is a band full of fun and optimism, from Rebook Commercial on their 1992 demo tape Flyswatter, right up to Pretty Little Girl from their last EP. Blink-182 means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. It will remind me of my youth, playing drums for the first time with no idea what I was doing and early morning bus rides to work on Romford Market listening to their albums on repeat. But now they will also always remind me of Dan.

Peace and Punk.