Blink-182's 2023 reunion tour is a dizzying blend of dirty jokes and pop-punk anthems
Blink-182’s first tour with founding member Tom DeLonge in nine years brought the reunited pop-punk veterans back to Phoenix for a sold-out show at Footprint Center on Wednesday, June 14.
It was a breathless 25-song journey through their catalog that ended with their 1997 breakthrough, “Dammit,” bassist Mark Hoppus sending us off into the night with a singalong chorus of “Well I guess this is growing up” while all but daring you to point to any indication that they’ve done much growing up at all.
And Blink fans wouldn’t have it any other way.
They were there for “The Mark, Tom and Travis Show,” as the trio once titled a live recording released at the turn of the century that effectively immortalized the perpetual state of arrested development that had already come to constitute a large part of their stage show.
And yet there were no penis jokes involving 'All the Small Things'
After taking the stage to the piped-in strains of “Also sprach Zarathustra” (used to dramatic effect in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” and Elvis Presley’s stage show), they followed a breathless rendition of “Anthem Part Two” with “The Rock Show” before laying any fear that we were dealing with an older, wiser Blink-182 to rest with a spirited “Family Reunion.”
That’s the one where they run through a string of profanities inspired by George Carlin’s seven dirty words routine and sign off with a frank admission that they’d been enjoying sexual relations with “your mom.”
The thought of having sexual relations with “your mom” is a recurring theme in Blink-182 shows. If they ever make a concept album a la "Tommy," you may safely assume that Tommy is “your mom,” and she is having sex with Blink-182.
It’s right up there with running jokes about the disappointing nature of your bandmate’s genitalia. There were also masturbation jokes and imitations of the noises Elvis Presley and James Hetfield of Metallica might make toward the end of being caught in flagrante delicto.
Celebrate: Juneteenth and the other Elvis are the biggest things happening in Phoenix this weekend
DeLonge also treated fans to an origin story involving roller skates and sexual relations with his bandmates — also wearing roller skates.
It’s what Blink-182 has taught us to expect. And to their credit, that’s exactly what they gave us, interspersed with musical reminders that they’ve also carved out quite a legacy of pop-punk calling cards, from “Dammit” to their latest single, “Edging,” which spent more than 13 weeks at No. 1 on alternative radio while welcoming DeLonge back to the fold.
The biggest Blink-182 songs from 'All the Small Things' to 'I Miss You'
They also hit on staples as essential to an understanding of their place in pop-punk history as “What’s My Age Again?,” “All The Small Things,” “Adam’s Song,” “Man Overboard,” “The Rock Show,” “First Date,” “Feeling This” and “I Miss You.” And they gave their inner Goo Goo Dolls the wheel on the smartphone-waving power ballad “Stay Together for the Kids.”
There were flames shooting out of the floor on their opening song. The first confetti explosion was triggered by “Family Reunion,” three songs in. An inflatable ambulance with a cartoon portrait of the sexy nurse from the cover of “Enema of the State” took flight on “Dumpweed.”
Could Travis Barker be the Keith Moon of the pop-punk generation?
And celebrity drummer Travis Barker spent several songs suspended from the ceiling on his drum riser, flailing away at his kit with the theatrical intensity and precision he displayed throughout the night in an amazing show of force.
If there’s a drummer more deserving of the title “The Keith Moon of the pop-punk generation,” I would love to hear it, but I doubt he would’ve played a more impressive show.
What it means to have Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus back together
DeLonge left Blink-182 in 2015, at which point his bandmates recruited Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio and carried on, releasing two albums: 2016’s "California" and 2019’s "Nine."
I’ve seen that lineup. They were really good. But this is something altogether more in keeping with the spirit of what people think of when they get excited about Blink-182. It’s a little like seeing a Beatles reunion after feeling fairly certain Wings are good enough to get you through the breakup.
Swift City: Why Taylor Swift launching her Eras Tour in Phoenix was such a big deal
There’s this chemistry DeLonge and Hoppus have that’s guaranteed to take you back to where you were the day your inner juvenile delinquent and/or class clown fell in love with Blink-182.
And there’s an authenticity that comes with seeing the trio that gave the world the multiplatinum juvenilia of “Enema of the State” and the even more ridiculously titled “Take Off Your Pants and Jacket” as grown men in their 40s and 50s making penis jokes so you don’t have to.
Mark Hoppus shares the sweet side of Blink-182 reunion story
There’s even a sweet side to the story that precipitated this reunion.
Hoppus had been battling a rare form of cancer that has gone into remission since he made his peace with the man whose genitalia he assured us was extremely small.
“Not very long ago, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to keep going,” Hoppus explained toward the end of the set.
“I was going through chemotherapy and I couldn’t walk up the stairs of my house without getting out of breath. I didn’t know if I was ever gonna be on stage again. And now, here I am tonight.”
As previously noted, it was really sweet.
The end result was a life-affirming reminder of what this kind of performance can mean to those who came of age with Blink-182, a dizzying blend of penis jokes and songs that hit you squarely in the feels, which, as I’ve come to understand it, is a good deal higher on the body.
It was fun — the kind of fun that makes it hard to care that you were making not-so-subtle variations on those mother jokes in sixth or seventh grade.
Blink 182 2023 tour setlist from Phoenix concert
“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” (played with the lights turned off)
“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” (with Ramones' "Pinhead" and “Blitzkrieg Bop”)
“All the Small Things”
“Dammit” (With snippet of "No Scrubs" by TLC)
Song played from tape “Never Gonna Give You Up” (Rick Astley song)
Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley.
Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Blink-182 2023 tour review: All the big hits and dirtiest mom jokes
