Blink-182’s long awaited show at the ‘Dome was finally last night and all I can really say is wow. That’s it. That’s all I’ve got.
Just kidding, I’ll actually give you something more.
- When I arrived, I could not believe how busy and energetic the crowd was. People were AMPED to finally see Mark, Tom and Travis again. Merch lines were nuts, beer lines were nuts, which is exactly what you want out of a Friday night ‘Dome show.
- The openers, Destroy Boys and Turnstile were also very solid. Definitely not the same level of “hype” for these guys, but they sounded great. But it felt like the roof of the ‘Dome was going to blow off when Blink finally came out. Walking out to the track from 2001: A Space Odyessy and just absolute mayhem when they rolled into Anthem Part Two.
- I talked above about how the ‘Dome’s roof might blow off, but the boys also recognized that during the show, laughing and joking about the Saddledome roof not being able to hold a lot of equipment. Even Blink knows we need a new barn!
- The whole stage setup for this show was INCREDIBLE. A diamond shaped stage that really gave you an easier view of the stage if you were sitting “behind” the stage. The actual stage itself had an LED blink logo underneath the band while they played, and heck, they even had inflatable ambulances and bunnies on the stage for certain songs. There was a ton of thought that went into this stage design, and I’d say it’s the best I’ve ever seen for a dome show.
- The set front-to-back was really solid, but it seems like the energy in the building really kicked up with “Bored to Death” to the end of the set. Not to say that the energy was lacking in the first half of the set, but stacking “I Miss You,” “Adam’s Song,” “What’s My Age Again?” “All the Small Things” and “Dammit” in the last part of the set really made for a memorable end to this one.
- My one complaint about this show also came from that part of the set – pretty much everyone had their phones up the entire time. Especially in the pit, there were so many people that it was almost distracting at times from the lower bowl area. I don’t mind having phones at shows but it was almost overkill…
- Sneaking in a little bit of “No Scrubs” by TLC into was something I did not expect at all, and it absolutely ruled. If you can find a clip online, I highly recommend giving it a listen.
- The last thing. Tom ended the set saying “give a hell of a lot of applause for the best band in the world, Blink-182.” And I can’t disagree – if you had the opportunity to see that show last night, they played super tight, and you saw arguably the biggest rock act to roll through the dome since COVID. Awesome show.