‘No one can do what we do!” Blink-182 singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge roars after the band have scurried through a grindcore-threateningly fast take on Happy Holidays, You Bastard. Although it’s a braggadocious statement of rock’n’roll dick-swinging, he may have a point. The Californians’ anthems fully embody both the pop and punk of pop-punk, fusing the puerile rebellion of the latter to hooks so accessible that mainstream TV and radio couldn’t not broadcast them to millennials everywhere. Countless bands imitated them but none had the same impact.
Twenty-four years and two reunions after their breakthrough album, Enema of the State, DeLonge, singer/bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker are still gunning for the same foul-mouthed charm of their halcyon days. When they do it through song, it works. Family Reunion’s chants of “Shit! Piss! Fuck!” etc get a sold-out O2 Arena gleefully screaming obscenities, while Dysentery Gary sounds like the exact same no-holds-barred character assassination it did in 1999. Meanwhile, massive video backdrops and a drum riser hoisted into the air on chains maintain the band’s pop appeal with some arena-worthy theatre.
However, in between the music, Hoppus and DeLonge’s barrages of bestiality jokes and jabs at the expense of other cities feel hollow. The pair talk over one another, spoiling each other’s punchlines whenever that’s not already been achieved by Barker bashing out ill-timed fills. It seems forced and very poorly thought through. This is especially true when such moments are cast against the monologue introducing Adam’s Song, where Hoppus compares his headspace during his 2021 cancer battle with that of when he wrote the earnest classic, lending it new, greater meaning.
Blink’s latest reunion was hard fought , after Hoppus’ health struggles reignited DeLonge’s desire to be in the band. It echoes the last time the guitarist returned, inspired by Barker’s 2008 plane crash. The stage was set for this show to acknowledge the burdens the band have beaten and celebrate the men they’ve become – that they instead focus far more on trying to be the kids they once were robs the evening of so much emotional potential.
At O2 Arena, London, on 12 October, then touring the UK until 16 October
