Blink 182 - The O2

Blink 182 played their first night at the O2 arena and it was what you would expect…a heavy dose of nostalgia with a thick layer of crude banter which made it feel like we were surrounded by teenagers. If you are not comfortable with lots of remarks about boobs, poo and “your mom” jokes then this isn’t the show for you. 

I’ve truly enjoyed Blink for over 80% of my life. How they can encapsulate that feeling of being a young adult and honestly not having a clue what you are doing through catchy and upbeat songs that make you want to jump up and down - it is truly an art to be able to execute this. As Tom DeLonge rightly said several times,  “No one can do what we do!”. At first as a statement to himself, then to the crowd of screaming fans. 

I’ve never personally seen Blink live before this, mainly due to age and not having the opportunity. But even I could feel the heaviness in the crowd on how important this was to every single person in the O2. From fan’s expressing how they “honestly never thought Tom would come back after selling his right to the shows” to “the way Mark has come back from this health issues is inspiring”. Not to get too woo woo on you, but it felt like a full circle moment for the fans and a truly emotionally healing experience for the band. This was perfectly wrapped up with the closing song “One More Time”, which ended leaving all 3 of the band shedding a tear before going off stage … and exiting to the Spice Girls “I’ll tell you what I want”. Because you can’t have too much of a heavy moment without undercutting it with fart joke or some silly dance moves - their classic teenage 50 years-old ness.  

I was speaking with a friend about my opportunity to review a Blink show at the O2 and he said “Wow, how are you going to review Blink…they are just Blink! Everyone knows them, they are always going to put on a good show, surely you already know what you’ll say about them?” And that within itself tells you so much about Blink 182!

So I think we should ask the Oxford Dictionary to add “Blink 182” as a unit of measurement for an outstanding live performance where 3 men capture the attention of 20,000 people for 90 minutes - which is no small feat.  And yes, Travis Barker did levitate from the stage while playing drums for at least a 3rd of the set and that was awe inspiring to watch. 

I did feel like their use of staging with inflatable cars and trucks was a bit of an odd choice and didn’t add much other than some confusion to the audience. But the inflatable rabbit at the end made a lot more sense and impact.