Photos and a review of Blink-182 in Toronto

[Correspondent Ross Macdonald sure gets around, doesn’t he? – AC]

There was a steady build up to Thursday night’s blink-182 concert at Rogers Centre. Although blink had played at Scotiabank Place about 18 months ago, the band released their ninth album One More Time… in October 2023 and decided to follow that up with a world tour in support. Toronto was the last stop on the North American leg of the tour.

A lot of music was scheduled for the evening, with four great bands on the bill. The only downside was that it was a weeknight, so those who were working had a tough time catching the first two opening acts.

It is tough to be the first of four bands, and starting off the night was Hot Milk based out of Manchester England. Many people were wandering throughout the set, but those who could there early were in for a treat.

Hot Milk was all dressed in black, but as their set progressed singer/guitarist Han Mee, and bassist Tom Paton warmed up and had to remove their leather jackets.

It was non-stop action as the four-piece band worked very hard to get the growing crowd into a party atmosphere. And they were successful, opening with two singles off their new album released last year: ‘Horror Show’ followed by ‘Bloodstream’.

Han spoke to the audience between songs, trying hard to get the energy to build. They then moved into a more serious, but no less energetic ‘I Just Wanna Know What Happens When I’m Dead’. Han brought out her Gibson flying V guitar to add some additional depth to the song, and a lot of flair.

The band closed out their set with their 2020 single ‘Glass Spiders’. The song starts quiet with Han singing, then some back and forth with co-vocalist Jim Shaw, and the song builds from quiet to loud and back, not unlike a Pixies song. And in no time the high-energy set was over.

Next up was San Diego band Pierce The Veil . They picked up right where Hot Milk left, with ultra-high energy. The three band members out front on guitars / bass didn’t stand still for more than a few seconds at a time. They ran back and forth, standing on risers, and every once in a while making a big jump, never missing a note.

It was somewhat surprising that the band was jumping around so much since they had their lighting turned down low; at times it was hard to spot Vic and Tony making their big leaps.

As was the theme of the night, the music was fast and hard with guitars ringing out power chords and a thumping bass / drum combo. And speaking of drums, touring member Lionel Robinson was a powerhouse with hard hits all set long.

The only time the band slowed down a bit was in the middle of their set when they played their version of Radiohead’s ‘Karma Police’. They do a great version, it was performed with a pair of guitars and no piano giving it a nice edge that everyone loved. And everyone took the opportunity to sing along.

As the stage crew was changing the stage setup between bands, something rare at a rock concert was spotted. At the side of the general admission floor area was Emma the service dog with her human. And obviously she has a very caring human because Emma had custom doggy headphones to protect her ears, and a pair of red lights on her harness so that nobody would run into her. I’m sure she brought a lot of smiles and mentions to all who met her.

The penultimate band of the evening was almost-local Alexisonfire (from down the road in St. Catharines). The place was pretty much full when the band took the stage. Alexisonfire hit the stage running, literally.

The Juno award-winning band has had the current lineup since 2005 (with a hiatus of a few years), so their music is tight, and they seamlessly interact with each other on stage, even though they never stand still.

Alexisonfire had a great mix to their setlist. They opened with 2004’s ‘Accidents’ and followed that up with the relatively new ‘Sweet Dreams of Otherness’ from their 2022 album Otherness.

Alexisonfire loves Toronto. It was evident not only in their performance, but those with keen eyes would have noticed that drummer Jordan Hastings had a photo of former Blue Jays catcher Buck Martinez on his bass drum. Doubly apt as the band was performing at the home of the Blue Jays.

The band is renowned for their back and forth vocals between George and Dallas. And on no song was this more at the forefront than on their phenomenal performance of ‘Young Cardinals’. George was fast and furious right from the start, then Dallas let the high notes ring out forever. The full crowd was left breathless trying to keep up.

Alexisonfire closed out their set with the title track to their 2010 EP ‘Dog’s Blood’. It was a showcase of the band’s musicianship with Wade ringing out his guitar, flawlessly backed up by Chris and Jordan’s rhythm section. There were even opportunities for touring member Matt Kelly to shine on his keys.

There could be no better band than Alexisonfire to get the 40k fans all set for San Diego’s blink-182.

As the stadium went dark everyone leapt to their feet (seats were no longer required for the next two hours). The screen behind the stage showed a video of Mark, Tom, and Travis walking backstage from the green room to the stage.

blink-182 opened up with ‘Feeling This’, capitalising on all the energy built up from the opening bands. blink have a deep catalogue with many top-10 rock songs, so it is redundant to say any one particular song is a fan favourite, they all were.

And as anyone who has previously been to a blink-182 concert knows that the show isn’t all about the music: it is the Mark and Tom show! It is an opportunity for fans to feel young and silly listening to their jokes. Sometimes dad-jokes, sometimes insults, but often juvenile humour.

Tom started things off by saying “we are so happy to be back in Vancouver“, the crowd responding with a mix of chuckles, gasps, and a few boos. Tom then added “we are playing in the stadium where the Blue Jays lose.” (unfortunately, he isn’t wrong this year, especially while his Padres are doing pretty well).

blink’s newer songs like ‘Edging’ were received as enthusiastically as their classics. Of course it helps that Travis’s drumming is as intense as ever. Travis hits big, he uses his full arm movement, which gives harder hits than most drummers. But he has fast hands and feet too. It was remarkable that he could maintain such intensity for two hours straight.

Mark gave a reason for all the jibes that he and Tom throw at each other: “All that we do is insult each other, and try to make Travis laugh. And if he laughs, then we’ve done our job.” The straight-faced Travis was caught laughing at some of the jokes, so mission accomplished.

Next came a question “Who came from a broken home?” Both Mark and Tom had divorced parents (no longer a rarity), and singing about the difficulties and effects on the kids was very powerful. As blink started playing ‘Stay Together For The Kids’ everyone turned on the cell phone lights as they sang along.

Going into ’Not Now’ the stadium went dark, lasers shot out from the stage and Travis opened the song playing alone on the drums. But this was a little different, Travis was playing from a second drum set at the back of the stage. Mid-song, for the epic drum solo, Travis’s kit rose about 10 metres in the air above the stage. What was different was that Travis didn’t come back down at the end of the song, he stayed elevated above the stage.

Next Tom added: “In all these shows we’ve never done a guitar or bass solo.” Mark played a brief bass riff followed by Tom playing a snippet of the The Top Gun Anthem. But they left it there and went right back to their music.

Mark asked the crowd: “y’all like sing alongs? Watch me on this next song.” The band broke into ‘I Miss You’, and it was the biggest singalong of the night. Tom and Mark fell silent for large parts of the song letting the crowd take over.

Travis stayed suspended in the air for four songs. Appropriately he came down at the end of the song ‘Down’. And of course Mark made a dad joke about it.

Fittingly Mark sang half of ‘When Your Heart Stops Beating’ (from his former band with Travis). And right after that Tom sang half of ‘There Is’ (from his band Box Car Racer with Travis). It seemed like Travis was the common denominator all night long.

Mark introduced the next song: “this is a song for the ladies” as the band broke into ‘Always’. Mid chorus in a nod to the lyrics cannons shot off streamers mid-song.

Tom noted that “This is the last show of the NA tour.” blink-182 will have a short break before touring Europe. And the band closed out their main set with on of their first singles, ‘Dammit’. Of course it was another opportunity for many of the fans to scream out the lyrics, especially in a few key points. At the end of the song the crowd was treated to a surprise ending, a pyrotechnic display that included fireworks and confetti. SkyDome is one of the few indoor venues where a band can put on a fireworks show.

In a nice nod to the audience, the band didn’t leave the stage.
Mark: “That was the end of the show.”
Tom: “This is the encore.”
And the band started their very moving song ’One more time’. As the song pays homage to their interpersonal relationships over the years (as described in the poignant lyrics: “From strangers into brothers, From brothers into strangers once again… It shouldn’t take a sickness, Or airplanes falling out the sky… I gotta say, “I love you” while we’re here.”).

Throughout the last half of the song, on the screen behind the band, they played video clips of the three throughout their career, including personal family videos, and snippets of the three jogging nude through the streets of LA in the music video for ‘What’s My Age Again?’

Five hours after Hot Milk first took the stage, blink-182 closed out the brilliant concert with bows of gratitude, and Travis throwing some of his signature white drum sticks out into the crowd.

Thankfully the night air was cooler as the crowd filed out of SkyDome, thrilled with the chance to embrace blink-182 ‘One More Time’.

blink-182:
Mark Hoppus – vocals, bass
Tom DeLonge – vocals, guitar
Travis Barker – drums

Alexisonfire:
George Pettit – vocals
Dallas Green – vocals, guitar
Wade MacNeil – guitar, backing vocals
Chris Steele – bass
Jordan Hastings – drums, percussion
Touring: Matt Kelly – keyboards

Pierce The Veil:
Vic Fuentes – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Tony Perry – lead guitar
Jaime Preciado – bass, backing vocals
Touring: Loniel Robinson – drums

Hot Milk:
Han Mee – vocals, rhythm guitar
Jim Shaw – vocals, guitar
Tom Paton – bass
Harry Deller – drums, percussion