Blink-182
By: Dan Hicks - ModernRock.com
When Bad Religion was first bringing down the house a decade ago, I was busy listening to Public Enemy. The closest I got to BR was when PE recorded "Bring Tha Noize" with Anthrax. The post- Metallica metal/ punk scene never much caught my attention and seeing Bad Religion warm up for Blink-182 Saturday made me wish I had taken a closer look.
Bad Religion played with intensity as well as virtuosity-- they are seasoned musicians who still know how to go off. The stage was as imposing as the music; a 45-foot silkscreen behind them depicted a World War 2 fleet of fighter planes bombing the stage. If Bad Religion played out the turbulence of the 40’s with their blistering set, then Blink 182 was chronologically correct with their 50’s drive-in movie theme.
The drive-in was the downfall of western civilization. It allowed teens to explore the back seats of their Chevys far away from any parents. When they did come up for air they were exposed to the depraved minds of Hollywood, who resorted to sex and monsters to compete with the new-fangled T.V. set.
Blink-182 hits the nail on the head with this as the theme of their "Mark, Tom, and Travis Show" tour. They broke the cleavage record with the cover of "Enema of the State," and made a video in their birthday suits. With more 4 letter words than fans-- and there were close to 8,000 on hand-- Blink-182’s recent show at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix was a shining salute to idiotic puberty.
Complete with the 45-foot movie screen, a couple Chrysler’s back ends with couches for trunks, and a ring-a-ding vintage 50’s sign hanging over the stage, Blink’s stage show was a faithful tribute to those days gone by. On the other hand, the crowd was up to date. The final count of Fred Durst-esque backwards red caps was pushing 300, while the number of girls who thought it was Mardi Gras wasn’t far behind.
Before the band came out with "Dumpweed" there was plenty of I’ll-show-you-mine-if-you-show-me-yours on the floor. But when the lights went out and Blink-182 started in, the stage was theirs. They did most of their damage in between each 2-minute punk rock shot of adrenaline. Bassist Mark Hoppus and singer-guitarist Tom Delonge joked about every sexual scenario they could think of that involved butts, aliens and family members. Now that I think back, it’s hard to believe Tom didn’t have anything to say about his last name and his penis.
They played radio hits like "All the Small Things" and "What’s My Age Again" as well as "Don’t Leave Me" and "This Is Where I Belong." All the songs were best heard while getting clobbered in the pit, but they did carve out some time for a drum solo that opened a few eyes and broke the monotony of the punk driven, 200 beat per minute onslaught.
Blink-182 delivers a straight up mix of hormonal confusion and youthful aggression, spiked with over the top perversion. Perfect for a night of getting away from mom and dad for a while. But judging from the amount of chaperones, there was going to be some very strange talks on the way home. When it was all said and done, Blink-182 made me fell like I was 13 again, and glad that I wasn’t.
Check out the bands website at www.blink182.com
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