REVIEW: blink-182 Bring Platinum Hits, Deep Cuts, and—Of Course—Dick Jokes to SPAC
09/07 @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Photos by Debi Gustafson
“Nothing short of triumphant… A heartwarming display of all the reasons they started this band over 30 years ago.”
What a time to be a blink-182 fan.
It’s a sentiment the 20,000+ crowd at SPAC last night would surely agree with, each audience member buzzing at the opportunity to see the iconic trio of Mark, Tom and Travis in the flesh. In the last few years, to everyone’s delight, we’ve seen the core three members make up and reunite as Mark Hoppus was diagnosed with cancer, an ass he has since kicked. The band then released a late-career masterpiece, One More Time, in the Fall of 2023, followed by an equally impressive …Part 2 almost one year ago to the day. Simply put, it’s been a joy watching them rekindle their love for not only one another, but the music that skyrocketed them to fame in the TRL era of the late ‘90s/early aughts.
If you’re reading this, it’s safe to assume you’re already well aware of the lore of blink-182 and therefore probably have a good idea what to expect from their shows. Crude jokes and hand gestures aplenty. A fair amount of pyro. A shirtless Travis Barker shredding drum solos throughout the night. And, of course, good old-fashioned, sloppy punk rock.
Except… blink-182 in 2025? Anything but sloppy. This was the tightest blink has sounded since…maybe ever? Even Tom Delonge’s vocals, which have prompted memes galore thanks to his signature nasally tone and knack for leaving entire consonants off of words, were nowhere near as pitchy as one might remember. I guess this is growing up?
Not entirely. There were, as hinted, plenty of the band’s customary “dick jokes” peppered in between songs, with Mark and Tom riffing on and taking jabs at one another with the same charismatic rhythm as is present on the band’s live masterpiece, The Mark, Tom and Travis Show. At one point, they joked that a lot of the crowd didn’t seem to be finding them very funny—a fact I can neither confirm or deny given that everyone around me seemed to be having a grand old time—but Mark declared his only goal every night was to try and make the ever-stoic Travis laugh. This brought a welcome smirk to the drummer’s face.
I, for one, reveled in the fact that the band and audience alike could collectively come together and tune out the news in favor of some childish humor for a few hours. Sure, it’s nice when punk bands get on stage and make impassioned cries for liberty and systemic change and important issues at large. But last night, blink was the antidote to all that, as they so often are. And it felt really nice to embrace an inner immature child and laugh at things like Tom asking the ASL translator how to sign the word “orgasm”, or Mark asking the crowd to raise their phone flashlights in the air and following it up with “Hey Siri. Text mom: ‘I want to see your ass.’ Send.”, or even the giant flaming middle finger that emerged from behind the band during the faux-encore, “Dammit”.
Over the years, blink has (rightfully) taken some heat from fans for rarely changing their set lists, opting for a showcase of their greatest hits with very little room for flexibility in the songs surrounding them. To be fair, it’s an unenviable task for a band with as many hits as they have (something Mark commented on with his typical, sarcastic arrogance). Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. For this tour however, they seemed to take some of that to heart, finally managing to pull off the ultimate set list: a fan’s wet dream consisting of their biggest hits (“All the Small Things”, “First Date”, “I Miss You”) alongside a selection of deep cuts, some of which they haven’t played in over 20 years. “Roller Coaster”! “M+Ms”! “Turpentine”! They even played “Online Songs” which remains one of the most underrated songs in their entire catalog. If you went into this review with FOMO, I’m probably not helping.
The most endearing part of the night however, was seeing how much fun the band was having together. After surviving two breakups, a near-fatal plane crash, a harrowing cancer diagnosis, and probably even more we don’t know about, the band are clearly relishing this third act. Seeing Mark gleefully running around the stage, all smiles, while performing with his self-proclaimed favorite band—well, second to The Cure—was heartwarming given how much he’s been through.
Before blink took the stage, Alkaline Trio delivered an impassioned set spanning their ten album discography, including fan favorites like “Time to Waste”, “Calling All Skeletons” and “Radio”. Scene legend Atom Willard pounded away at the drums with fervor while Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano traded off lead vocal duties with ease. Opening the night on the biggest tour they’ve ever played was Drug Church, the post-hardcore quintet hailing from the Capital Region. The group set the tone for the evening nicely, maximizing every decibel of SPAC’s sound system, and spreading a whole lot of hometown pride throughout the venue.
I, like countless others, credit blink-182 with inspiring me to pursue playing guitar more seriously. “All the Small Things” was the first song I learned—really learned— on guitar when I was a mere 12 years old. Despite all the band’s ups and downs, and plenty of light teasing along the way, they remain a band near and dear to my heart and one that always felt like they left us in their prime. But thankfully, bands don’t stay broken up forever anymore, and the punks that made a name for themselves parodying boy bands and streaking through the streets in their legendary music videos are back and better than ever. This show was nothing short of triumphant. A heartwarming display of all the reasons they started this band over 30 years ago: brotherhood, punk rock, and your mom.
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And now, for your reading pleasure, a bonus review of the blink-182 show using blink-182 song titles. (I’m Sorry):
Anthem after Anthem (Part 2). A Roller Coaster of Emo-tions from the San Diego Natives. Dammit, the crowd is really Feeling This. All Of This—More Than You Know. There’s no Violence. No Stockholm Syndrome. Just a pure, Enthused Rock Show, reminding Everyone Everywhere of When We Were Young. Like a perfect, pop-punk Family Reunion. If it wasn’t already Obvious, no one is Bored to Death, and isn’t that The Only Thing That Matters? blink: I Miss You already. And I know we Can’t Go Back, so let’s do it One More Time soon.
