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Wednesday night pop punk legends Blink 182 played to a sold out Van Andel Arena crowd of about 12,000 people. The arena was filled with a mix of the old and the new, including the fans and the band.
Having started in 1992, the band played with much enthusiasm and demonstrated a staying power that many of their contemporaries didn’t possess.
From the moment they took the stage with the song “Feeling This,” to the final song “Dammit,” the crowd and band shared an intimate energy and youthfulness.
This tour is the band’s first with new guitarist and vocalist Matt Skiba, formerly of Alkaline Trio, who is replacing former member Tom DeLonge. I was wary at first, but Skiba won me and the rest of the fans over while on stage. It’s safe to say he’s been officially welcomed into the Blink 182 fan family.
The crowd was made up of a diverse age range of fans. There were the 40-somethings who grew up with the band, as well as high schoolers enjoying the band’s youthful, angst riddled music at the exact appropriate age.
The band’s getting older, the fans are getting older, we’re all getting older, working different jobs, but can still enjoy the soundtrack to our youth. As said in their final song “Dammit”, I guess this is growing up.
This article originally appeared on The Collegiate Live.
