Our good friend Tara Thomas recently made the trek to see one of her all-time favorite bands, blink-182, and was kind enough file this report. — JS

Full Disclosure

I have been in love with blink-182 since Enema of the State, and I fell hard for Fall Out Boy the first time I heard “Grand Theft Autumn/Where is Your Boy.” While there was a chance I’d get to see FOB play some day, I knew I couldn’t hold out any hope for blink. When two members of a three-person band form another band and release a song titled “No, It Isn’t” (which totally is about the original band’s break up) and which opens with the lines, “Please understand / this isn’t just goodbye / this is I can’t stand you,” that pretty much says it all, doesn’t it? But then Travis Barker, blink’s drummer, almost died in a plane crash last Fall and blink-182 reunited. Then FOB announced they would be opening select dates on the blink tour this summer. I think it’s safe to say that both definitions of “auralgasm” fit my response to that bit of news.

And that’s what brought me to the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Mass. Aug. 6 to see Chester French, Panic! at the Disco, Fall Out Boy, and blink-182.

Chester French

I arrived halfway through their 20-minute set (stupid Boston traffic). They had the same flavor as the other bands in the lineup, but they were easy to forget. In fact, I would have forgotten to include them at all, if I hadn’t made myself a note about them. They ended their set with the first few bars of the Cutting Crew’s “(I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight” before the lead singer dropped to his knees and appeared to molest his bass player. It was a little uncomfortable to watch.

Panic! at the Disco

I was surprised to see the exclamation point in the backdrop, because I’d read about how it was a big deal that they dropped it. Founding member, guitarist, and primary songwriter Ryan Ross left the band with bass player Jon Walker early last month, and the exclamation point made its return shortly thereafter. Despite losing half their band, Panic! gave a good show, opening with one of the hits from their first album, “But It’s Better if You Do.”

Lead singer Brendon Urie referred to a “fucking debacle” during “The Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)” and made reference to other technical difficulties, but I didn’t notice them. I was pleasantly surprised to find that “Nine in the Afternoon” still sounds fabulous, even without all the additional orchestral instruments featured in the studio version.

Fall Out Boy

First auralgasm of the evening: Fall Out Boy opening with “Sugar, We’re Goin Down,” one of my top five favorite FOB songs, and they nailed it. My only complaint is that they didn’t play a lot of my favorite songs. I get that when you only have 45 minutes, you have to prioritize and that usually means sticking with the hits and more recent songs. My FOB faves tend to be lesser known songs, and many of them come from their first two albums. I was still surprised that they didn’t play more from their most recent album, Folie à Deux, including “What a Catch, Donnie” – the video for which was released that very morning.

Most surprising to me was how much I enjoyed the songs I usually skip when listening to their CD. For example, I found myself appreciating Patrick Stump’s incredible range on “Headfirst Slide into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet.” Same goes for “Thnks fr th Mmrs.”

Pete Wentz paid tribute to John Hughes, who had died earlier that day, before going into “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More ‘Touch Me.’”

Auralgasm number two occurred when Brendon Urie came back on stage to sing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” with FOB. My mom’s a big Journey fan and would probably argue this one, but I have to say it was better than the original.

blink-182

The forty minute wait between FOB and blink was agonizing. The stage lights started flashing to the title words to Wang Chung’s “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” as it played over the PA. Midway through the chorus, the lights flashed, the curtain dropped, and blink went right into “Dumpweed.” It’s not one of my favorites (mostly because the line “I need a girl that I can train” ruffles my feminist feathers), but I found myself screaming along anyway.

Guitarist Tom DeLonge and bassist Mark Hoppus mentioned that it had been years since they’d played together. DeLonge took the blame for “everything that went wrong with that song” after playing “Going Away to College.” Hoppus later noted there were several points where they were off time or off key. Honestly, I barely noticed any problems. The crowd was singing along so loudly DeLonge said he couldn’t even hear his band mates, and it definitely made it harder to pick up any missed notes. Hoppus announced that this was the second-largest show blink had ever played, with 20,000 people in attendance.

To identify individual auralgasms during the blink show would be pointless. They played all of their hits, and many lesser known songs like “Going Away to College” and my favorite, “Stockholm Syndrome.” The line “Please tell Mom this is not her fault” in “Adam’s Song” has always cut very deeply with me. Hearing Mark Hoppus sing that line live literally gave me chills.

Blink is known for their toilet humor during live shows, but a couple of references to Tom DeLonge’s penis certainly weren’t any reason to blush. The choice of songs tended toward the more grownup, too. I heard one teenage girl lamenting as we left that they didn’t play “Aliens Exist.” I was a little sad not to hear “A New Hope,” but that’s because I have a little bit of a thing for Princess Leia myself.

The encore began with Travis Barker’s drum solo. To think there was question about whether or not he’d be able to play again after the injuries from last year’s plane crash. He played an incredible drum solo from a platform that was floating at least ten feet above the stage, which turned and spun like some vomit-inducing carnival ride.
Blink ended with their first hit, “Dammit,” which still makes you want to dance as much as it did a dozen years ago.