Review by Richard Henry for MPM

Almost a year later, the postponed show is finally coming to Belfast. There’s a decent crowd here tonight on Bank Holiday Monday, and first up is a double dose of Californian punk.

What has happened so far

The six-piece band from California are up first tonight. To be honest, I didn’t know them at all. They play a maybe a slightly heavier version of Blink, and I’d say it’s more Orange County hardcore in some ways, with a healthy dose of pop punk. They are, well, I wouldn’t say the most mobile band ever, as all the guys more or less stay in their local area, so all the focus is on singer Parker, although the man of the night for me is definitely drummer Ross. I have a feeling this is going to be a night for the drummers!

Not much banter between songs, the guys just throw themselves from one song to the next, again lots of energy from the guys musically, although as they said they don’t normally play in such big venues, but three guitarists and a bassist is something, decent sound tonight in the hall too, as always good in these bigger venues, solid set from the guys!

Blink-182

Well, I wasn’t expecting The Undertaker intro music to come, but lo and behold, when the guys enter the stage!

The feeling – Travis starts things off, great sound from the start to be honest, Mark and Tom take turns on vocals, dazzling banks of lights behind the guys, crowd participation from the start but you wouldn’t expect anything else! Three screens to see all the guys, good production!

The Rock Show – Well, I mean, everyone knows this song. Is it the most famous one? Interesting to put it so early in the set? You would think it would be a later song. There’s a bit of pyrotechnics going on here, well timed in the break after the chorus. The thing is, the songs fly by so quickly too, more pyrotechnics!

Man overboard – Bass intro and then when it starts it goes into a nice thrashy beat. I love the screen where Travis is on the whole time. It’s easy to see what’s going on back there and the man is busy. Definitely more energy from these guys. Great light show too, definitely a stadium production!

There are aliens – Also a nice drum intro where Tom tells the crowd how much Stiff Little Fingers influenced his guitar playing and how happy he is to be playing in their hometown. The lasers are off on this song, I also love the uptempo parts here and sorry for exaggerating so much but some of the parts Travis plays back are just fantastic, great track!

dance with me – Nice little guitar part at the beginning over a nice little high hat groove, the build up on the toms to the chorus, biggest crowd sing-along here yet, nice drum fill to the last chorus!!

Bored to death – This starts with almost a drum and bass groove; to be fair it’s a banging chorus and a hell of a heavy drum groove, another nice drum part in the verse, great crowd participation on this song and Belfast is happy to join in with the guys!

Edge – Travis starts off here too, a nice swing groove to start with, a real crowd pleaser with a few souls in there putting their hands in the air, nice mix on the graphics in the background with a black and white mix with palm trees matching the lyrics, blink and it’s over (pun intended)

Awake all night – Like the whole guitar intro to it with that kind of structure, while the groove is crashing behind it, the build up with the guys switching vocals in the middle, and then it builds up again until the last chorus!

More than you know – A piano intro comes over the PA before the band bursts into another one. I don’t know what it is in this one but the guitar seems to get a little lost in the Knox in the verse section. Live the double bass really kicks into high gear in the verse of this song, probably the heaviest track so far tonight!

Stay together for the children – The guitar starts up, every cell phone flashlight is apparently a home we’ve destroyed as Tom tells us to raise the phones in the air. The pyrotechnics are out here bombarding the stage. You can feel the heat. This is probably the first reduction in intensity of the whole evening and a welcome drop in the intensity of the set!

Not now – Blue lasers are out here as the radio/donor noises kick in before Travis breaks out into a tom groove to drive this song along and the pyrotechnics explode as the band kicks into high gear. The band hopes the crowd will join in and sing this song. There’s a nice drum solo section in the middle. I mean, the guy is a real drummer as anyone who has watched footage of him before can believe!

Can’t go back – Dum and bass groove to open, the guitars only play a small part over it, the crowd is pretty quiet, some great harmony singing from Mark and Tom, really nice mix, the song must be on a click track as the piano part is played along with it too, dark red moody lighting for this song, and yes, during the break you can hear the tracks!

I miss you – I love that groove with the accents on the drum side, so cool live, again it’s a great tempo in the set, bringing it down after all the intensity of the last few tracks, again this is a massive song and as expected the crowd sings along loudly, well done Belfast, that was loud, I’m pretty sure the set must be perfect, you can hear the piano part here too!

Down – Nice phase transition guitar before this one starts, I really like the offset groove too, the chorus has all fists in the air as The SSE comes to life once again, but that drum break at the end of the song, lots of drum fills in it, all eyes on Travis again!

When your heart stops beating – You can really hear the bass at the beginning and it’s a serious bass tone. I really like Mark’s vocals at the beginning, it’s a moody track but it really hits hard and then when the beat kicks in it’s a serious song live!

There is/FuckFace– Great groove, really soft and lots of ghost notes too, and then you get a slap in the face!

Anthem PT3 – It’s fast, it’s wild, it’s to the point, and this is Californian pop punk at its finest, again with pyrotechnics, and it’s so warm. Mark comes around the stage to greet the far corners, because Tom is on vocals here!

Always – This one is really lively and there is a bit of action at the front of the crowd and a lot of sing along too, everyone around me is joining in, I must say again the sound is spot on tonight but earlier there was a problem with Mark’s guitar package but all is well, the ticker tape explodes from the ceiling as the final chorus hits!

How old am I again – Not the age it was when it was released, although Tom says he has a perfect body. Let’s face it, this was always going to be a loud song that would get everyone up out of their seats and singing along with the band, another huge hit from back in the day, huge roar for that

First Date – So, I mean, it’s going to be a massive song, drum intro with a Ramones reference, all the pyrotechnics went off, we’re back to the big song part of the set and the whole room is on fire and moving over to this one, great energy in the room with lots of vocal participation!

All the little things – I mean come on, you know this is going to be the loudest sing-along song of the set and Belfast delivers plenty here, for a lot of people in this age group this is a real teenage memory, what a song, just when you thought it couldn’t get any louder I was wrong, it went one step further!! You forget how many great songs these guys actually have!

Damned – Bang straight into it and then the pyrotechnics go off again, I mean that’s what these guys are known for, entertaining pop punk anthems and we just get on with it, everyone’s up out of their seats, in the stands and on the floor, oh we’ve got the po-go guys in the pit for that, with a quick no-starters note, the pyrotechnics and confetti are everywhere, as are the fireworks at the end of this number!

One more time – Last song of the night, and after all the madness we start with a slower number, just to emphasise it, actually really, it kind of lets you know it’s the end rather than another banger of a song. A good hour and a half set from the guys tonight for an incredibly appreciative crowd at the SSE, great set!

Photography by Darren McVeigh for MPM