Can a Reunited Blink-182 Still Deliver?

If it wasn’t for one Ms. Swift, the current Blink-182 tour might have been the highest-grossing concert tour in 2023. I don’t ever really do this, but I approached last night’s stop at Tampa’s Amalie Arena with a bit of trepidation.

Mark Hoppus, Tom Delong, and Travis Barker are like brothers in nearly every sense of the word. They’ve had fights, stopped talking for a bit, and even broke up for a while. Tom went off and chased aliens, Travis frolicked with Kardashians, and Mark had—and thankfully recovered—from stage 4 lymphoma. This recovery was a key factor in coming together again for the first time since 2015.

All three members on just on either side of 50 years old. However, a key element of their success was never growing up. Their catalog and interaction on stage are typically filled with a combination of teenage-esque sexual banter and managing the complexity of their formative years, which, unfortunately, have become timeless.

A hallmark of a great concert, regardless of the genre, is the level of audience engagement.

Would it feel forced? Would they have the same chemistry with each other and the audience?

These were the concerns, which were quickly answered with the first few notes of Anthem Part Two. We’re all a product of our environment, and “If we’re fucked up, you’re to blame” had everyone on their feet for the next hour and forty minutes. The tone was set for the night.

The nothing but hits 25-song set list bounced back and forth between the themes of teenage angst and promiscuity.

The guys never missed a beat. Tom’s nasally voice and awkward movements fit right in as if he had never left. Before starting Alien, he acknowledged to the crowd that “he was right.”

One of the most popular MTV generation hits featured the band running naked through city streets. Paying homage to this, many women dressed as the Enema of the State nurse. Feeling This, The Rock Show, Dumpweed, Up All Night, Family Reunion, and Happy Holidays You Bastard all perfectly portrayed the band's lighter side. They actually played Happy Holidays twice. Once faster and then again really fast! You have to know the song to appreciate it.

After that, Travis’ drum kit was hoisted 30 feet in the air, and Mark proclaimed the start of the emo set. “Remember when you ran to your room, slamming the door, screaming ‘It’s not a phase, Mom.’”

Transitioning to the dark divorce tale “Stay Together for the Kids” drew emotions from one person in the front that Mark gave her, not one, but two guitars. During I Miss You, the screen in the background told the story of missing and runaway children. Just before the cautionary teenage suicide tale of Adam’s Song, Mark spoke about the dark places his mind went during the struggle of dealing with cancer.

At the start of the home stretch, Mark professed that What’s My Age Again would be the last song of the night. “No, seriously, we aren’t playing three more after this!” As that song ended, he quickly introduced, “This is your encore,” and the band ripped through First Date, All the Small Things, and ended with one of the songs that started it all, Dammit, which included an interlude of TLC’s No Scrubs.

Any trepidation at the start quickly dissipated. There wasn’t a person who didn’t enjoy this show. Most important, it was great to see Mark Hoppus doing what he loves again.

The full setlist is below.

Side Notes:

Blink played their one new song, EDGING, but if they want this to be more than a reunion tour, they needed to record more new music. This will be the real test of newfound longevity.

While Blink can broadly and accurately be described as a three-chord band, it can be easy to overlook how talented Travis Barker is on drums.

While Tom was off chasing aliens, Blink released a couple of albums and toured with Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio. While Matt is a talented musician in his own right, I didn’t catch the last time they stopped in Tampa. It just didn’t seem right.

Hardcore punk band Turnstile opened for Blink. They recently introduced Meg Mills as a touring guitarist, and she was amazing.

Set List

Anthem Part Two

The Rock Show

Family Reunion

Man Overboard

Feeling This

Reckless Abandon

Violence

Up All Night

Dysentery Gary

Dumpweed

EDGING

Aliens Exist

Cynical

Happy Holidays, You Bastard

Stay Together for the Kids

Always

Down

Bored to Death

I Miss You

Adam's Song

Ghost on the Dance Floor

What's My Age Again?

First Date

All the Small Things

Dammit