Blink 182 + All American Rejects + Four Year Strong - live @ Odyssey Arena, Belfast, 13/06/12
(review & pics © Joe Donnelly)
I had no intention of attending this gig because 1) I'm not much of a 'Blink 182' fan,and 2) I hate 'The Odyssey' as a gig venue with a passion. So the two combined didn't exactly scream " a good night out" for me. Also the tickets were very expensive, there was no way I'd pay £42.00 a skull for the pleasure of an evening of bland teenybopper generic yank pop punk for the jackass generation. But then fate unexpectantly intervened, $$ was at a 'Lamb of God' gig the night before and he met up with his cousin 'Sam' who had two spare 'Blink' tickets and he gave them to us for free. So rather than seem ungrateful and decline his kind offer I accepted, albeit reluctantly. Not surprisingly with the extortionate ticket price it wasn't a sell out gig, I was expecting the black screen to be erected, but it really wasn't that far away from a full house.
Inside the venue was like a scene from 'Pee Wee's Playhouse' as teenage kids roamed the ground flloor standing area in over excited groups clutching tightly to what was probably their first ever pints of beer, many of them had obviously failed to hold onto the costly amber nectar as the floor was awash with the stuff and now had the gripping capacity of a skating rink . I was standing around looking like the oldest swinger in town while $$ was roughing it up in the pit all night , but I could see all the other oldies hiding out in the safety of the seated sections.
The words on the back of this kids tshirt pictured in the gallery clearly demonstrates the silly & childish mentality you're dealing with when 'Blink 182' are involved , believe it or not! (because I didn't) but these are actually the lyrics of one of their songs. 'I want to fuck a dog ' was another of their lyrical gems. Both songs were performed here tonight, and the young audience was more than happy to join in with the puerile and embarrassing singalongablink. By the way ,the guys in 'Blink 182' are all millionaires in their late 30s / early 40s.
Due to work hours and an early show start I arrived late and missed the first band on 'Four Year Strong', who I was reliably informed were probably the best act of the night.
Unfortunately I was there in plenty of time to catch 'The All American Rejects' show, they were extremely boring, then f*****g patronising by attempting some mid set well out of date pontificating. The lead singer refering to our collective past which he obviously knows nothing about started telling the young crowd "that when a band plays London its just another gig for the punters, but for Belfast audiences its an event". The remarks just went over most of the kids heads, as for the rest of us who understood what he was getting at we just rolled our eyes and thought what a clueless prat. Needless to say, 'The All American Rejects' were absolutely awful
How 'Blink 182' got so successful is one of life's mysteries, they're a band which has massively over achieved . I think the members all got a much needed reality check during their recent hiatus when their outside projects like The Transplants ,+44 and the really desperate Angels & Airwaves stiffed, prompting the bands reformation a few years back.
This was everything you'd want from a big production arena headline show, the lighting, screens and graphics were excellent state of the art , so no complaints there. After a while though the songs started to sound very similar ,all the techno flash going on here, there and everywhere was a good distraction from the very apparent short comings of the music . A plus point was thankfully 'Tom DeLonges' usually pretty irratating nasal drone wasn't that bad tonight.
'Travis Barker' is a very talented drummer, its clear to see he must practise hard and daily in his 'Warhol' adorned mansion. But the last thing anyone needs in 2012 is an ego stroking drum solo, not very punk rock. The stage was spectacular, the songs were much less so , though I do like a few of their tunes. The kids were digging it, so thats all that matters.
I'm no prude and I don't condone censorship, but continuous boring references to various gay & straight sexual acts are not big or clever infront of any audience. It was a reasonable enough show, but self satisfied and smug 'Blink 182' are definitely not as funny as they seem to think they are .
Joe Donnelly Belfast. 15.6.12
I had no intention of attending this gig because 1) I'm not much of a 'Blink 182' fan,and 2) I hate 'The Odyssey' as a gig venue with a passion. So the two combined didn't exactly scream " a good night out" for me. Also the tickets were very expensive, there was no way I'd pay £42.00 a skull for the pleasure of an evening of bland teenybopper generic yank pop punk for the jackass generation. But then fate unexpectantly intervened, $$ was at a 'Lamb of God' gig the night before and he met up with his cousin 'Sam' who had two spare 'Blink' tickets and he gave them to us for free. So rather than seem ungrateful and decline his kind offer I accepted, albeit reluctantly. Not surprisingly with the extortionate ticket price it wasn't a sell out gig, I was expecting the black screen to be erected, but it really wasn't that far away from a full house.
Inside the venue was like a scene from 'Pee Wee's Playhouse' as teenage kids roamed the ground flloor standing area in over excited groups clutching tightly to what was probably their first ever pints of beer, many of them had obviously failed to hold onto the costly amber nectar as the floor was awash with the stuff and now had the gripping capacity of a skating rink . I was standing around looking like the oldest swinger in town while $$ was roughing it up in the pit all night , but I could see all the other oldies hiding out in the safety of the seated sections.
The words on the back of this kids tshirt pictured in the gallery clearly demonstrates the silly & childish mentality you're dealing with when 'Blink 182' are involved , believe it or not! (because I didn't) but these are actually the lyrics of one of their songs. 'I want to fuck a dog ' was another of their lyrical gems. Both songs were performed here tonight, and the young audience was more than happy to join in with the puerile and embarrassing singalongablink. By the way ,the guys in 'Blink 182' are all millionaires in their late 30s / early 40s.
Due to work hours and an early show start I arrived late and missed the first band on 'Four Year Strong', who I was reliably informed were probably the best act of the night.
Unfortunately I was there in plenty of time to catch 'The All American Rejects' show, they were extremely boring, then f*****g patronising by attempting some mid set well out of date pontificating. The lead singer refering to our collective past which he obviously knows nothing about started telling the young crowd "that when a band plays London its just another gig for the punters, but for Belfast audiences its an event". The remarks just went over most of the kids heads, as for the rest of us who understood what he was getting at we just rolled our eyes and thought what a clueless prat. Needless to say, 'The All American Rejects' were absolutely awful
How 'Blink 182' got so successful is one of life's mysteries, they're a band which has massively over achieved . I think the members all got a much needed reality check during their recent hiatus when their outside projects like The Transplants ,+44 and the really desperate Angels & Airwaves stiffed, prompting the bands reformation a few years back.
This was everything you'd want from a big production arena headline show, the lighting, screens and graphics were excellent state of the art , so no complaints there. After a while though the songs started to sound very similar ,all the techno flash going on here, there and everywhere was a good distraction from the very apparent short comings of the music . A plus point was thankfully 'Tom DeLonges' usually pretty irratating nasal drone wasn't that bad tonight.
'Travis Barker' is a very talented drummer, its clear to see he must practise hard and daily in his 'Warhol' adorned mansion. But the last thing anyone needs in 2012 is an ego stroking drum solo, not very punk rock. The stage was spectacular, the songs were much less so , though I do like a few of their tunes. The kids were digging it, so thats all that matters.
I'm no prude and I don't condone censorship, but continuous boring references to various gay & straight sexual acts are not big or clever infront of any audience. It was a reasonable enough show, but self satisfied and smug 'Blink 182' are definitely not as funny as they seem to think they are .
Joe Donnelly Belfast. 15.6.12