Finally. On August 29, 2009 at the New England Dodge Music Center in Hartford Conn., 30,000 filed into their assigned seats to witness the return of the kings of pop punk. Blink-182 had been gone a long time, but they were back and ready to rock Hartford. Rumours had been swirling all summer about the band: naysayers said the band had reformed strictly for money, that members weren’t fully committed to the reunion and that the band members were traveling in separate buses and using separate dressing rooms. Despite all the drama, the kids came. They came in droves. It was a strange scene gazing out into the sea of faces; there were grizzled Blink veterans, parents and kids, high schoolers, frat dudes, punks and jocks all gathered under a cloudy New England sky. Yes, tonight was going to be amazing. But tonight almost never happened.Just over 24 hours before the doors opened, it had been announced that popular DJ and close Blink friend Adam Goldstein, aka DJ-AM, had been found dead in his apartment. Would the show go on, or would the bereaved band cancel their scheduled appearance?
Opening acts Taking Back Sunday and Weezer left a little to be desired. The once great Taking Back Sunday appeared as a shadow of the band that burst onto the scene so many years ago. It’s hard to believe watching today that they were once the must see band of the moment. There were three of the members who crafted Tell All Your Friends all those years ago, standing with two hired hands and going to through the motions. Only new guitarist Matt Fazzi shows any sign of gusto, as bloated frontman Adam Lazzara struts around halfheartedly singing songs he’s so disconnected with it’s probably hard for him to believe he wrote them. As the band has put out increasingly poor records over the last few years, Lazzara’s ego seems to have grown. He treats the crowd as if they are blessed to be in the presence of his greatness, and no one seems terribly upset when they make their exit.
Weezer were a slightly better experience, taking the sage in matching fluorescent yellow hazmat suits and blowing through an hour of greatest hits. It seemed a little trite however, as frontman Rivers Cuomo opted out of playing guitar in favor of being a free roaming lead. Everything was tight and sounded excellent, but with drummer Patrick Wilson playing drums instead of guitar, it didn’t feel like an authentic Weezer set but more like Rivers Cuomo fronting a Weezer karaoke cover band. Their set went over well with the enthusiastic crowd, however, and 15 year old songs like “Say It Ain’t So” and “The Sweater Song” sounded as fresh as they did back then. The addition of a new single and a strange one man version of “Island In the Sun” slowed the pace of the set a little, but all in all it was an enjoyable precursor to Blink.
After what seemed like eternity,Tom Delonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker, all present and accounted for, finally took the stage. The band wasted no time ripping through “Dumpweed” and “Feeling This”, and the crowd went insane. Delonge was clearly stepping into the role of lead singer for the evening, covering for the grieving Hoppus. When all was said and done, Delonge sang lead on 14 of the 18 songs played, strange for a band famous for splitting time equally between two singers.
The set was pretty evenly spread throughout Blink’s six studio albums, including songs from each. The greatest hits, like “What’s My Age Again?” and “All the Small Things” were played with great energy, and a few more obscure cuts like the b-side “Not Now” and “Violence” were peppered in as well. Hoppus pogoed around like he was 27 instead of 37, and Barker pounded his drums furiously, adding extra fills here and there. Delonge raced back and forth strumming and swaying, often dropping to his knees in a song’s climax. As expected, Delonge handled most of the in between song banter for his saddened bandmates. It was painfully obvious to everyone that Blink-182 did not want to be in Hartford that night, but they were pulling through and playing to the best of their ability for their fans and DJ-AM. Delonge tried his best to keep the mood light, making jokes about Oprah and Brad Pitt and spontaneously breaking into dance. However, at one point Hoppus asked that the lights be brought down so he could say a few words. He struggled to tell the crowd what a horrible day yesterday had been, and much Goldstein had meant to he and Barker. “He was an innovator, and he was a genius, and above all, he was a great friend” Hoppus told a near silent crowd before bursting into tears. A moment of silence was held, and a kind of eerie, uncomfortable feeling settled over the crowd. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that performers are people too, and it’s hard to imagine performing for 30,000 people the day after the loss of a close friend. Hoppus dedicated “Down” in Goldstein’s honor. Blink’s famous anti-suicide anthem, coincidentally titled “Adam’s Song”, was noticeably absent from the set.
The trio closed their set with 2001’s “Anthem Part 2” before retreating backstage for a few minutes. They returned for a two song encore, “Carousel” and the perpetual closer and fan favorite “Dammit” off of 1997’s Dude Ranch. All in all, it was a triumphant, if painful, return to Connecticut for the band. After all the harsh words and time apart, after all the rumors of strained friendships and money earned, there was a moment that said it all. Returning for the encore, a visibly shaken Barker seated himself behind his drum kit and wiped away the tears that were streaming down his face. Delonge walked back to the drums from his side of the stage and lightly rubbed Barker’s arm, saying something to his bandmate. Barker looked up woefully and nodded, and Delonge walked back to his side of the stage. It was quick, the whole thing took maybe 10 seconds. No one knows exactly what was said between those two, and probably no one ever will. But some things are just better left between friends.
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