Few of those attending last night at the Palau Sant Jordi had finished university when Blink-182 rose to fame back in 1999. Some were still in high school, listening to the accelerated guitar playing of the Californian trio who, following in the footsteps of bands like Green Day or NoFX, gave one last push to punk from the West Coast of the USA, one of the protagonists of the Barcelona musical summer with visits from Bad Religion, The Offspring and the aforementioned Fat Mike and company band.
Almost a quarter of a century later, the Blink-182 met to return for a few hours to the past, to that youth that they have not yet let go of, and to once again enjoy the accelerated rhythms mixed with uninhibited sexual jokes and other various jokes. , always suitable for the MTV filter that launched Blink to definitive stardom. Pop punk in its purest form, too weak for purists, loud enough to mix the general public with lifelong lovers of the genre and a few crests who strolled along the Sant Jordi dance floor last night.
More than 10 years have passed since the Blinks' last visit to Barcelona, a period in which they have had time to separate, replace Tom DeLonge with Matt Stkiba, record two albums and, recently, recover the original leader of the band again. band, with whom they have gone through the studio again to publish One more time, which will go on sale in a couple of weeks, although yesterday they could enjoy a small aperitif.
It was the original lineup that jumped onto the rectangular stage last night, smaller than usual in these parts, and previously warmed up by fellow Californians The Story So Far. The night went through the three seminal albums that the group published at the turn of the century, Enema of the state, Take off your pants and jacket and the homonymous Blink-182. Topics with the aroma of high school bells, skateboarding, weekday drinking and uncomplicated beach Sundays.
“Walking around behind the bar on the weekend, being silly and getting drunk with my best friends,” is how The Rock Show begins, one of the first pieces that was played at the concert after the band introduced itself with the grandiloquent notes of Así Zaratrustra spoke, replacing bones with drumsticks and guitars to jump in groups like gorillas. Around them are pyrotechnics, fire and smoke on a tour that consecrates the reunion of the trio beyond their personal adventures, with Tom DeLonge becoming a UFO hunter, Travis Barker married to a Kardashian and parading at the Met Gala, and Mark Hoppus , the most sensible of the trio, happy after overcoming cancer in 2021.
The audience on the track in a Sant Jordi packed to the brim (the square stage made it possible to take advantage of all the seats) did not stop jumping from the beginning, happily colliding with each other in some parts of the track without causing any blood. reached the river, while Travis hit a drum set hard that made the venue shake, where the chorus of Feeling This resounded, chanted by thousands of people.
“My mother is very good in bed at night,” said Tom DeLonge, 48, who was wearing a cap for the occasion with the visor pushed back, a reminder of how much he wanted to play pretend last night. in his twenties. It was the first of many graces, which on this occasion gave way to Reckless abandon with a small drum solo to show off Barker, also a victim of the jocular spirit of the evening when, in the middle of Up all night, Mark Hopper covered his head with a towel forcing him to play blindly.
Like a couple of comedians, Hopper and DeLonge threw barbs at each other with the same coordination with which they sang duet songs, such as the celebrated Disentery Garry or Dumpweed while they handed out darts without regard, comparing the Barcelona public with the Madrid public (which does not understand music , of course) or considering himself better than the Beatles after shouting at the accelerated Happy holidays, you bastards. In between they played two songs from the new album, Edging and More than you know, with a sound easily identified by their followers, who instantly made them their own, adding them to the string of hits that were played last night, such as Alien exists, presented by DeLonge after of explaining that he had been raped by aliens (“I was raped by aliens”), proof of his ability to laugh at himself and his recognized and excessive passion for the existence of extraterrestrial life.
Barker also gained his share of prominence by rising with his drums several meters above the stage, where he remained hanging from a set of poles for a long time until Ghost on the Dance Floor returned him to the ground while giving a sonorous drum solo just right. before pocketing What's my Age Again? Another great success for the band, and the question that many attendees perhaps asked themselves while they behaved the same as they did a few decades ago.
Previously, songs like Stay Together for the Kids had been played, which DeLonge wrote based on the separation of his parents, one of the few moments in which the pace of the concert was reduced, although not its decibels, while thousands of mobile lights illuminated the Palau . Another was Adam's song when Hoppus, 51, recalled his fight against cancer. “I never thought he would die alone,” read the lyrics written by the trio between tours and nights of success with twenty-something years behind them.
Small breaks in a fast-paced night that concluded with the audience jumping with the last three songs (“we'll play them because it's in the contract,” Hoppus recalled with a bit of fake humor). And First Date couldn't be missing and, above all, All the small things, the tune that made them famous in 1999, and that Sant Jordi sang until he was hoarse before saying goodbye to Dammit and returning, much to his regret, to the present.
