Blink-182 Shows up Hard in Dallas

July 8, 2023

*Blink 182 performing in Dallas. Photo by Craig Youngblood.*

It was a hot summer day after America’s Independence Day. However, the hangovers and hot weather didn’t keep the fans from lining up at every entrance waiting to see Blink-182 take the stage at American Airlines Center! As the fans entered, they went to the merch tables and food spots. Trying to get a head start on getting merch before the line gets longer. Grabbing some food and drinks to fuel them through an intense night of heavy punk rock music!

As it got close to the time for Destroy Boys to take the stage and kick things off for the night, fans continued pouring into the arena, grabbing their seats. Suddenly the lights went down, and the Destroy Boys kicked off their set with an incredible cover of Rage Against the Machines Bulls on Parade! The crowd erupted as soon as they kicked off into the first chords of the song! They continued into their set with a couple of the hard-hitting singles they have put out in recent years. Destroy Boys played Drink and Crybaby, and the crowd sang along and jumped around while playing. The Destroy Boys had incredible energy jumping around and playing all over the stage. They set the tone for the night, and the fans knew they would experience some fantastic live music here tonight.

The amazing Turnstile was the second band up for the night to amaze the fans. The house lights went down, intro music started playing, and the crowd erupted with cheer and applause. You could barely see the silhouettes taking the stage, getting into place, and suddenly, the lights came up as Turnstile was settling into their positions so they could kick things up another notch. The fans yelled and sang along as soon as they struck the first chords of their opening song, Mystery. They quickly jumped into the fast and hard-hitting music Turnstile Love Connection. The fans watched in awe as the band members jumped around and had fun playing on the stage. They continued their insanely fast-paced and energetic set with hard-hitting chords and great vocals. They got the crowd amped up and ready to see the phenomenal Blink-182 coming up next.

As time drew near for Blink-182 to take the stage, the arena was packed with an eager sold-out crowd waiting to see the intense set they were about to perform. As the thousands in attendance were waiting, some visuals would occasionally appear on the screens around the arena. The fans would applaud and yell as the little teasers meant it was getting closer to time for their set to kick off. Suddenly the lights went out, and the intro music began playing, and you could hear the fans yelling and screaming, waiting for them to take the stage. The visual imagery was streaming over all the screens as they made their way to their spots on the scene. Tom started sitting in front of a microphone as they began to sing Anthem Part Two when he abruptly jumped up and made his way across the stage, where he continued to throw down as he played guitar and sang. When Tom jumped up and started playing, the crowd clapped and screamed as they sang along to the words with them. Following that up, quickly jumped into The Rock Show with Thunderous drum strikes by Travis sitting high on his throne behind his drum set and deep thumps of the bass from Mark as he shared vocal duties with Tom, and they went back and forth with him.

Along with their stage presence, we were treated with some great pyro going off all over the stage. The third song of their 25-song set list was a quick one titled Family Reunion, which still had lots of excitement with fast playing and fire going up all over the stage and besides Travis, as he went off on the drums with such incredible fast-paced drumming and standing in between playing the whole time never missing a beat. They continued to entertain and amaze the crowd as they worked their way through the set list and even threw in a Texas classic with Deep in the Heart of Texas, and the group participated all through the night.

This was such an incredible lineup, and it took many people back to their younger days. The fan base was very diverse, and many people that grew up listening to Blink-182 were now enjoying them with their families. The opening band was incredible and put on quite a show with high energy and aggressive playing that got the crowd going and prepared to continue with the pun rock anthems of our generation! I cannot wait to see these guys again and would like to see the Destroy Boys and Turnstile again. Such an incredible show from all of the bands on the lineup, and I can assure you that Blink-182 did not disappoint anyone with such high energy and a great show. The fans have been waiting for this for a long time, and I know it will be talked about for a long time.