Friday: day one, and pop-punk rockers blink-182 close the main stage at Reading Festival.
The band are known for their up-tempo tunes, and with a career that dates as far back as 1992, with a break in-between, it is no surprise that blink-182’s story includes ups as well as downs.
A live production compiled of talk, jokes and tunes, Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppas play jokes ping pong throughout the set, some of it works, some of it seems less effective. A “if you are not going to laugh at our jokes, you can at least say ‘hi’ to Travis Barker” is heard from the stage.
Distributed across the show are numerous references, to dick and fucking. It seems telling, and above everything else, it probably shows the cultural distance between the Californian trio and some of the crowd members.
Musically, the trio demonstrate their know how, they have the experience. They know exactly how to efficiently deliver an explosive, fast-paced concert, the supply of catchy belters to large festival masses on a happy-go-lucky Friday comes easily, and they do it with energy. Despite a relatively short set, the songs are played with snappy precision, and with little time for pleasantries.
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The audience react and show their endorsement. If they don’t laugh much, their smiles and chants are heard, and fans sing back the choruses.
The anthemic knack of a track like ‘Up All Night’, the rawness of ‘Not Now’ and the melodic evergreen hits ‘All the Small Things’ and ‘What’s My Age Again’ get the crowd jumping.
Elsewhere in the set, a couple of tender moments go down well. In connection with the song ‘Stay Together For the Kids’ there is talk of the challenges of being a child of divorced parents, precisely the sort of thing that makes everything feel relatable.
What’s also effective is the interaction between Hoppas and Barker, playing to Barker’s strengths, the virtuoso gets to show a few drumming tricks from his locker, and if nothing else, the physicality involved deserves a few zoom ins, if not more.
blink-182 have the numbers and the vivacity, and by the look of things, that’s kind of enough.
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Words: Susan Hansen
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