Had the best night of my life last night, oh my god.
So it was the first night of blink-182’s European tour (and first of the 5 times I’ll be seeing them this Summer) yesterday and it was amazing. Compared to Reading in 2010, it was more like a return to their old live standard. Lots of banter and joking around on stage, Tom singing like he does but him actually being into it, you know.
Four Year Strong started off. They were okay like, but not quite my cup of tea. Energetic and got the crowd going, but (and I guess maybe it couldn’t be helped?) it was kinda noticeable the singers kept needing to spit all the time :| Grim.
There wasn’t much time spent waiting after them for The All-American Rejects to come on. Wow ♥ these were super! I’ve seen them before at Reading 2005, but can’t for the life of me remember what it was like apart from enjoying it :D Last night though, so awesome. Loads of crowd interaction, and I loved how they started Move Along and Gives You Hell, teasing us with a few drum beats or singing not-the-words to the melody :)
Bit of a longer wait after that ‘til blink-182. They had a backdrop for the stage made to look like houses, going over 3 video displays, and then a black curtain to hide when they came on stage as well as a load of lighting technicians up top doing the lights for the whole show (I’ve not noticed this before at gigs, massively impressed with those folks though - the height!). They kicked it all off with Feeling This, lights flashing as the black curtain was still there and then they dropped it. All the feelings, I just cannot describe when seeing them. So lush ♥
They played a nice mix of classic gig favourites and songs from their new album. Mark made a cute little show of tying his laces, we all cheered for him, and then later they came undone again anyway :D Tom seemed to have this chalice of uhh I think it was chicken tikka? Not sure, but he was nomming away at that when Mark was moving on to the next song. At one point Mark was like “we’re taking requests”, silly me screaming out Carousel as if they wouldn’t play it in the encore :) The did Man Overboard instead, and then a couple of songs from The Mark, Tom & Travis Show ;) Pretty sure the girl next to me was giving weird looks as I sang my heart out to Country Song :P
Travis was amazing in the encore. I love his solos. Then Mark and Tom came back out playing a bit on the guitars, kinda seeming like they were leading somewhere… right into Carousel. Couldn’t have been happier! Shoulda guessed though really :) Carousel and Dammit are their encore songs, and of course they finished up on Dammit. So, so, so lush!
Massively psyched for next month now, although ever so slightly sad that I only have 4 blink-182 gigs to look forward to (it was 5 before yesterday ;)).
It was painless getting out of the NIA, and it’s in such a nice area with the canals near by. I’d only had a cup of tea to drink all that day, so we went to hunt down a McD. Pro-Tip: If you’re super thirsty, stick with the fizzy stuff rather than get milkshake :| Brain Freeze central and it didn’t quench my thirst.
