Blink-182 packs catchy punch between bathroom banter during fast-paced Dickies Arena show
Rock band Blink-182 hasn’t exactly grown up, at least on stage, but that might be a blessing.
The proudly sophomoric pop-punk trio from Southern California is three decades into their run as arguably the most successful full-throttle pop-punk trio, not counting Green Day.
And all of the reasons for their enduring popularity were on full display during a quickly paced, 90-minute set in front of a packed Dickies Arena on Tuesday night.
The trio performed in-the-round, but their rotating circular stage was placed closer to one end of the arena’s floor.
This was their fourth stop on the band’s 31-show “One More Time” tour of North America, which started on Thursday in Orlando.
They’re touring in support of their ninth studio album, “One More Time…,” which was released in October.
But it was much more than that, as bassist and co-vocalist Mark Hoppus told the crowd of about 12,500.
“It’s also a celebration of everything that we’ve gone through as a band. This next song is about friendship and reconciliation. It’s about us,” Hoppus said before the bad ripped in “Anthem Part 3,” from their latest release.
It was a rare but far from isolated moment of sincerity from the band, which still includes X-rated jokes and sophomoric exchanges between Hoppus and guitarist and co-vocalist Tom DeLonge.
These exchanges, which faded as the show built to a lusty climax of their biggest hits and crowd-pleasing sing-alongs, can be endearing, making it clear they are definitely not taking themselves too seriously. But, at the same time, the power of some of their more serious-themed tunes could be undercut by prurient masturbation and genitalia jokes. This is not a criticism based on puritanism. It just seems so unnecessary when the band’s catalog — although filled with admittedly juvenile themes of stunted adolescents — is stocked with more than enough glorious guitar-blazing anthems and angst-filled rockers that could carry the band to concert glory sans the comic relief. But I digress.
None of this took away from the band’s performance; their fans ate it all up.
One of the many highlights was the tour debut of “Wendy Clear,” one of four tracks performed from their 1999 breakthrough smash album “Enema of the State.”
They played six songs from the new album, but added eight songs combined between 2001’s “Take Off Your Pants and Jacket,” and 2003’s self-titled “Blink-182.”
Drummer Travis Barker, who would be the perfect replacement for Tool’s Danny Carey if the need ever arose, is the band’s secret weapon. He adds a locomotive-level power to the band’s live sound. He showed off his skills during a brief solo that included his drum riser being lifted by supports hanging from the rafters about 20 feet above the stage, but really, his remarkably nimble skills shined throughout the night.
The crowd of mostly 20- and 30-somethings gleefully sang along to two of the band’s biggest hits from Enema, “What’s My Age Again?” and “All the Small Things.”
And Hoppus tagged “Dammit” with Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” which had heads spinning before they signed off with show closer “One More Time.”
Despite their ages — Hoppus is 52, and DeLonge and Barker are 48 — this trio still sounds fresh and enthused by their 30-year-old punk-pop origins. Catchy tunes will always be contagious, and, alas, so will bathroom humor.
Blink-182 setlist, Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas, June 25, 2024
Feeling This
The Rock Show
Man Overboard
Aliens Exist
Dance With Me
Easy Target
Bored to Death
Edging
Up All Night
More Than You Know
Wendy Clear
Stay Together for the Kids
Not Now
Can’t Go Back
I Miss You
Down
When Your Heart Stops Beating
There Is
F*** Face
Anthem Part 3
Always
What’s My Age Again?
First Date
All the Small Things
Dammit
One More Time
