Blink 182
SECC, Glasgow
17/08/2010

In the late nineties and early noughties, Blink 182 were the soundtrack to many summers. And despite an absence of nearly five years, the love for them doesn’t seem to have died down; with people of all ages (ranging from about 10 to 50+) present tonight. So this Glasgow return shouldn’t just be about the young’uns really, but as the show progresses it soon morphs into something reminiscent of an elaborate kids party – complete with sickeningly cutesy bunny animations and confetti cannons – the immortal words of Lethal Weapon’s Danny Glover (“I’m too old for this shit”) reverberating in The Fly’s ears.

Perhaps in a bid to try and pick up where they left off, the set focuses largely on the band’s later period, (particularly their self-titled sixth album) though they still manage to dole out the ‘hits’, even if they do pick rather meagrely from their earlier albums; dispensing the raw, punk(ish) numbers for the glossier, catchier and arguably cheesier tracks in their catalogue. The fact that ‘All The Small Things’ gets the biggest cheer – it’s easily their laziest – is a bit bemusing, but to expect anything else is perhaps asking too much.

Now it is a joy – for the most part – to see the band crack each other up, especially when you compare it to the pretty miserable run of shows before they split. And with the addition of ‘Dumpweed’ and a few relatively rare fan favourites such as ‘Man Overboard’ and ‘Josie’ aired during the set, there are times when the nostalgia factor carries it. But considering they still can’t really play their instruments (drummer Travis Barker excluded) the whole performance just ends up feeling disappointingly ramshackle, and more than a little cringeworthy.

Ryan Drever