By John McCarty
After blink 182 disbanded in 2005, no one thought they would be seen together again, especially with the much-publicized feud between bassist Mark Hoppus and guitarist Tom Delonge. In fact, Hoppus and Barker would form +44 while Delonge worked with his band Angels and Airwaves.
Following drummer Travis Barker's near-death experience in a fiery plane crash and the sudden death of blink's producer Jerry Finn, Hoppus and Delonge began talking again.
Last Thursday, blink 182 stopped in Auburn, Washington to play a show at the sprawling White River Amphitheater.
Thirty-five miles southeast of Seattle, White River Amphitheater is an enormous venue that seats 20,000; with 9,000 covered seats and a lawn section in the rear for the remaining 11,000. Two gigantic screens on either side of the stage allow one to see the performance regardless of seating arrangements.
Chester French, Taking Back Sunday, and Weezer opened for blink 182 in front of more than 17,000 fans.
Personality wise, blink 182 still retains their edgy teenage spirit and dirty toilet humor. The things they said about Oprah Winfrey along with the "your mom" (and in some cases "your dad") jokes are far too vile to print, but blink 182 wouldn't be the same without them.
The antagonistic relationship between Hoppus and Delonge is always humorous to watch, and with Barker's energetic drumming the band retains their rebellious attitude.
Though blink hasn't matured in the personality department, their musical ability has drastically improved. They still play the same three-chord pop-infused punk, but the band as a whole has taken their musicianship to higher level and added new elements to many of their songs.
New breakdowns bring much-needed musical complexity to songs like "Feeling This" and "Down" while Delonge even blessed the audience with surprisingly good guitar solos on two separate occasions. Hoppus nailed the bass solo in the intro to "Man Overboard" and Barker seemed to defy the laws of physics with his mind numbingly fast drum fills.
One of the biggest highlights of the show was Barker's floating drum solo during the band's encore. While Barker was soloing, the platform containing his drum kit levitated about twenty feet into the air and then moved about the stage like a giant drum UFO. Barker jammed along with a hip-hop sample and gradually built into frenzy of complex rolls and fills with his arms moving at superhuman speeds.
After about five minutes of soloing, Barker then digressed back into jamming with a new hip-hop sample and then began the pattern anew with a different and more intense solo each time.
With a stellar performance at the White River Amphitheater, blink 182 brought back the glory days of pop-punk and their signature brand of dirty humor.
