I must admit I was one of the many who really wanted to see Blink 182 reunite. After all, Dude Ranch and Enema of the State were like the soundtrack of my high school days, so it’s only natural I would want to be able to recapture those times via a Blink reunion.
Well, now that it has finally happened, I have to say it hasn’t really lived up to my expectations. I can only hope that the three pop-punk superstars that comprise Blink 182 are just trying to get back into their groove, but from what I’ve seen, the chemistry just isn’t there anymore.
I recently watched the reunited band play live on the Jimmy Kimmel show. To be quite honest, it sounded pretty rough around the edges. However, I’ve seen Blink in the past when their performance sounded awful but they still managed to put on an awesome and entertaining show. This time, it seemed like bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker were very much in synch, but guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge was somewhere else.
In fact, he doesn’t even look like he belongs in the band. Tom used to wear his Fender Strat real low and dress like…well, the rest of the band. Now he looks like a futuristic fighter jet pilot and has his much more “grown up” Gibson signature hollow body guitar is worn at nearly a Paul McCartney height.
Of course, this new look was all part of Tom’s post-Blink project, Angels & Airwaves. Although Mark and Travis stuck more to the Blink formula/image, Tom sort of went off in a direction that we can only assume he had wanted to go in for some time but was restricted by the Blink image. Even if you look at Blink when they were promoting their last album, you could tell Tom wanted to appear more serious by the way he changed the way he dressed and the type of guitar he played.
Well, now Blink is supposedly back 100% and about to tour around the world and play for fans that have been waiting for this occasion for years. But even while all this is going on, Tom is still preoccupied with his Angels & Airwaves project.
Tom was the one that wanted to break Blink 182 up in the first place. It seems odd to me that he would be willing to commit to this reunion but then appear so apathetic about it. But don’t get me wrong, I want to see them succeed as much as any other fan does. I just wish it was like it used to be.
…Sort of how I secretly wish I could be back in high school again. Don’t tell anyone that, though.
