Pop-punk pioneers Blink 182 played a storming set at Cornwall’s Eden Sessions on Sunday night and had the sell-out crowd bouncing throughout.
Cornish folk favourites Crowns kicked off the night, playing an excellent set of tracks from their self-titled debut EP. Fan favourite She Swears Like a Sailor got the loudest reaction, and the bands clever and observant lyrics instantly won round a crowd of hardcore Blink 182 addicts. Debut single Kissing Gates soon had the crowd singing along – be sure to check Crowns out.
Blink 182 stormed onstage at precisely 9PM and the capacity crowd went wild. Opening with Feeling This from 2003’s self-titled LP and Up All Night from 2011’s Neighbourhoods, the band had the crowd jumping and moshing from the off. Their live show is tight and exciting – Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and the irrepressible Travis Barker have been playing together for years, and it shows.
The next few tracks were a sucker-punch of bona-fide classics from a band whose back catalogue stretches back to 1994. The Rock Show, What’s My Age Again, Down and I Miss You, one after another… It just doesn’t get any better than that. The crowd were screaming along every word and mosh pits were starting up in every corner of the arena – it was simply phenomenal.
The trio soon launched into a selection of hits from their comeback album, 2011’s Neighbourhoods. After Midnight, Wishing Well and Ghost On The Dancefloor mixed perfectly with older tracks such as Dumpweed, Violence and the classic Always and were well received by the crowd. The band are on a tour of the UK’s arenas right now, and they brought a fraction of their arena stage show with them to Cornwall – if the impressive light show and giant video screens were anything to go by the thousands of fans with tickets to see them on their tour are in for a REAL treat!
Mega-hits and fan favourites All The Small Things and Josie sent the audience into overdrive and left them breathless and longing for more. The band strolled off stage, leaving drummer Barker as the solitary figure on Eden’s enormous Sessions stage. What followed can only be described as the best drum solo we’ve ever witnessed – seriously, it proves beyond any doubt that Travis Barker is the best drummer in the world today. An awestruck crowd could only look on as Barker pounded and bashed his way through complex rhythms and timings, all set against a musical backdrop of Can a Drummer Get Some.
Finishing off with a crash or ten on a cymbal, the crowd cheered as Hoppus and DeLonge joined Barker on the stage for a powerful run through of Carousel, the ever-anthemic Dammit and a climatic Family Reunion. So that was it – Blink 182, one of the most successful bands ever to grace the stage at Eden, had delivered a brilliant set to wow even the most sceptical of fans. Fan, fast and furious, Blink 182 are back.
