They’ve been one of the most talked about bands on the huge Soundwave lineup and on Friday night Blink 182 came out to show why.
They haven’t toured Australia in years, mostly due to drummer Travis Barker’ fear of flying after the devastating plane crash that left him as the only survivor, and also due to recording some new material.
They’ve been rumoured for almost every festival lineup to drop over the last few years and then finally, last year AJ Maddah announced they would be hitting our shores with Mr Barker for Soundwave. After a lot of speculation on how Travis would travel he eventually pulled out of the lineup leaving a mix of bitter and sympathetic fans everywhere, but the night has come and it’s time to put all the bullshit aside and enjoy the two-thirds of Blink.
The sideshow just happens to be taking place on the very stage that they will play on at Soundwave, which would both be convenient for the band not having to move their stuff between venues, but also a pain for staff that would then have a massive cleanup job before the festival the following day.
For punters however it is a pretty cool experience to walk through the Soundwave grounds empty and see everything being set up.
As the gathering of punk fans make their way past the main stage, a distinct tune is playing, it soon becomes apparent to the majority of people that Metallica are in fact sound checking and that the tune is ‘Sad But True’; security move on all the people stopped and listening.
The first band to hit the stage for the actual sideshow is support band Sharks. The four piece English punk rock band hit the stage at 6.30pm to a pretty decent crowd already.
Obviously being on the Blink bill they are of a very similar sound and have all the fans going off nice and early. With only time for a short 25 minute set, the band leave the stage and the crowd are one step closer to the headliners.
As if the night couldn’t get any more special, whilst waiting for the following support act a shooting star streaks across the sky as bright as day to the surprise and enjoyment of revellers, meanwhile Linkin Park can now be heard sound checking over on the main stage.
Just after 7pm the Vandals rock on to the stage with a sound very similar to local punk legends Frenzal Rhomb. Another four piece act, this time from California, they rip through another short setlist that includes a cover of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” and “Waltzing Matilda”, just to really hype spectators up that little bit more.
After a short wait the moment everyone has been waiting for is finally here. Hitting the stage to a massive crowd and legion of fans, Blink 182 rip straight into their set with one hell of an opening, from “Feeling This” to the late “Up All Night”, the American punk rockers have the crowd going nuts from the get go.
“Rock Show” (“one for the ladies,” as Hoppus states), was followed straight after by “What’s My Age Again”. New material in “Dogs Eat Dogs” gets a run before the crowd’s vocals do on “Miss You”.
As they make their way through their set, Hoppus’ bass mixed with the drums provide a great groove on the rhythm, whilst DeLonge’ guitar playing comes driving through the speakers.
As the smell of marijuana wafts through the air, the clouds begin to open as well. “Hey I don’t care if it rains because studies show that I look 50% sexier when wet,” states Hoppus.
The band continue making their way through “Always” and a blistering drum solo from fill in drummer Brooks Wackerman before the immaturity that we all love between the singers continues.
“It’s so wet and slippery up here with everything covered in plastic, it’s like fucking Tom’s mum in a Dexter kill room,” exclaims Hoppus before DeLonge’s retort of “Hey fuck you guys, Mark’s grandma used to serve her pussy up for me on my chest.”
The band continues on with “First Date”, which unfortunately for the decent of fans leads a couple of wankers to start a fight up the back of the crowd. All attention is returned back to the stage though when Mark tells Tom to “catch an STD and die.”
One of the biggest highlights hits when the band launch into “All The Small Things” sending the crowd into a frenzy of song and dance.
After pretending to leave the stage the band soon return for their encore and the chants of “tits out for the boys” leading them to ask, “why not dicks out for the girls?”
An extremely generous encore sees the group play a long acoustic set, including the current radio hit “Boxing Day”, before dropping the acoustic guitars and smashing out “Carousel” and “Dammit”, the latter launching confetti canons and moshing everywhere.
“Family Reunion” brings about the end of their Brisbane sideshow and leaves fans wanting more… good thing there was ‘some festival’ on the next day.
