Blink-182...Reunited, and It Feels So Good

Band History

Blink-182 has had a stop-and-go sort of existence throughout their years since forming in 1992. They replaced their original drummer Scott Raynor in 1998 with Travis Barker. In 1999, Blink-182 was everywhere after the release of Enema of the State, the band’s third studio album. Breaking into the mainstream, the band received international success selling 15 million copies worldwide; they were in constant rotation on the radio, Mtv (when it played music videos), and featured in cameos on tv and in film (notably, American Pie). In 2005, their label announced an “indefinite” hiatus. Following Travis’ near-death experience in a plane crash in 2008, the band got together to discuss reuniting and ended up announcing their reunion at the 2009 Grammys.

They toured again until 2014, Delonge’s final performance being in Las Vegas; Delonge left to pursue activities outside of music (namely To the Stars as well as produce and star in Unidentified: Inside America’s UFO Investigation on the History Channel). In 2015, the band had enlisted Matt Skiba (of Alkaline Trio) to fill in on a few tour dates…and then eventually went through the effort to make him an official replacement. He had a good run, playing with the band until an announcement in October 2022 stating that Tom Delonge would be rejoining the band. I feel like the announcement surprised even Skiba, but he took the news in stride and graciously thanked Blink-182 and the fans for letting him be a part of the band’s history.

It’s kind of rare for shows to be so close in proximity…time- and location-wise. But, it happened—tour dates were announced for DC on May 23rd and Baltimore on May 26th. The supporting bands for the two tour dates were White Reaper and Turnstile.

Happily, These Subtle Sounds was approved for both dates. While approvals were only given for photography, I was actually able to stay to attend the DC tour date beyond our typical “first three songs” of photo coverage. So, even though I wasn’t required to write a review to accompany the images captured, I thought I’d go ahead and give a short recap.

Blink-182 at DC’s Capital One Arena

I’ve actually seen White Reaper twice before—opening for the Struts at the 9:30 Club in 2018 and playing in the local radio station’s DC101-derland event at the Anthem in 2019. I’d never seen Turnstile, but they’re one of the hottest bands out of Baltimore right now.

For me, the two bands were just amuse-bouches for Blink-182. And, I actually didn’t get to watch them first-hand, as we were sequestered in the bowels of the arena in between our pit shoots. We could hear some of the hubbub as we waited for Blink-182 to take the stage. The crowd seemed receptive to both performances.

Finally, the time came for Blink-182 to take the stage. We waited in the dark for the show to start from the designated photo area at the front of the house (FOH), which, despite the description, is located pretty far from the stage; in fact, it was pushed back even further than usual…sitting at the back of the arena, butted up against the seating. The opening fanfare from “Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op.30” (featured in and associated with the film 2001: Space Odyssey) played as the giant LED screen behind the stage began to form the Blink-182 logo.

The guys bounded onto stage and immediately broke into “Anthem Part Two” from Take Off Your Pants and Jacket which starts off with Tom Delonge’s vocals—a perfect choice for reintroducing him to those that hadn’t gotten to experience him playing with the band. Admittedly, as much as I love Matt Skiba…there’s just something about Tom Delonge’s voice; it is one of the key ingredients of Blink-182, and it brought back so much nostalgia from all my years listening to the band. (That being said, now that Matt is back with Alkaline Trio, I’m hoping for some new music from them. Fingers crossed!)

Next was “The Rock Show” which was the lead single from Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. Our third song to cover was one that had no radio play whatsoever, as it’s basically all the words you can’t say on air in a tune that’s about 36 seconds long (based on George Carlin’s famous comedy bit). Because it was so short, we actually got to cover the fourth song “Man Overboard” a bonus single to advertise the album The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back!); I’m not sure if allowing us to continue photographing was intentional, but we photographers welcomed the extra time as there were many heads and hands in our viewfinders as we captured the show.

After checking my equipment (and buying some merch), I accompanied one of my fellow photographers to his company suite and watched the rest of the show from there. Being at a higher angle from where we’d been photographing allowed me to see more of the stage, albeit a bit further away. The stage itself was a square (rotated so that the point went into the crowd) and was emblazoned with the Blink-182 logo. At key moments, different features appeared on or in front of the LED screen—an ambulance driven by their mad rabbit mascot, aliens, images/symbols from their past album covers and/or music videos, pyrotechnics and smoke. Also, at one point in the show, Travis’ drum set rose into the air where he remained suspended for quite a few songs.

Obviously, one of the key songs featuring Tom’s voice was “I Miss You”…Tom said, “Alright, DC!” before singing the first few lyrics acapella with the crowd wildly singing along. After that, Mark addressed the crowd about his stage 4 lymphoma (and treatment) and said, “This song is about the times that get you down, but tomorrow does hold such better days.” They then played “Adam’s Song.”

They played “What’s My Age Again?” while giving credit to their two opening bands and their own band members in the middle. They ended the song with “Thank you, goodnight.” A hot second later, they said, “We’re back!” (as they don’t leave the stage for encores), leading directly into a Ramones’ “Pinhead” intro sung by Mark and “Blitzkrieg Bop” intro sung by Tom, followed by “First Date,” “All the Small Things,” and “Dammit.”

The magic was back. The nostalgia was real and palpable. The boys are all grown up, and yet….I think they’ll always remain the silly, rebellious punks with the irreverent music videos from when they first broke into the mainstream—and into our hearts.

All photos taken onMay 23rd and May 26th, courtesy of Deanna Escobar.