I'm going to apologize in advance, this is an incomplete review. Due to the lovely amount of traffic on 101 to Shoreline Blvd I arrived late into the show. I missed Chester French completely and half of Taking Back Sunday's yet, which I was quite bummed about because I really like that band. However, my friends who arrived before me told me that Chester French played a poor performance. The whole show I was in the lawn seats (which was just a long strip of elevated grass) where view of the stage was clear, just very tiny. I was pushed against the front so I could see and hear pretty well but anyone shorter than 5' 8" was out of luck.
Taking Back Sunday played a very good set (from what I saw of it). The singer had a very classy air about him, the way he strutted around the stage swinging the microphone over his head. There isn't too much more I can say as I only saw the last two songs they played, but boy did they play their hearts out. The guitarist had a broken foot (which the projection screen camera men had no problem zooming in on to give us all in the lawn seats a closer look) yet he still was moving around and having fun with it. A+ on showmanship Taking Back Sunday.
Weezer was up next. Admittedly I wasn't too excited for Weezer at first, I mean I liked them but not enough to go see them willingly if they came to my town. They really surprised me though and played one of the most enjoyable performances I've ever seen. The band came out wearing all white, matching jumpsuits. It was awesome. Weezer started off by playing a cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs, which they pulled off very well for an emo rock band. They then jumped right into their regular set list which was varied from their classic songs and newer ones very well. Rivers Cuomo definitely kept it interesting with stage banter, jumping on speakers, and even playing as a one man band for a while. Overall it was a fantastic set and I'd love to see Weezer play again.
Blink 182 finally started after what seemed like an eternity of set-up time. The crowd went absolutely crazy as the black curtain covering the stage fell after a short portion of Raining Men was played over the PA (It was pouring at the Shoreline). The whole time they kept it interesting with funny, between song jokes and banter. Tom and Mark's back and forth's were hilarious and at times, borderline homoerotic (okay, COMPLETELY homoerotic, Tom relayed a dream he had about Mark coming down as a knight and making love to him). They played all of the songs we wanted to hear and did not let me down. In the middle of their performance Travis Barker cracked a cymbal, so he gave it away to a member of the audience. Tom and Mark considered this a challenge and each gave away one of their guitars and bass' to two lucky members of the audience. When the show ended, everyone was screaming for an encore. They stayed off just long enough to make me believe they actually might not play one. Then out of nowhere the curtain fell again and Travis Barker was sitting at his set, solo on the stage. He started playing along to a hip hop beat playing over the sound system. Suddenly, the small stage he was seated on began lifting up, carrying him and his drum set. Barker continued playing without missing a beat, it was incredible. Then after swinging in the air for a minute or so, the stage turned at a Z-axis and you had an overhead view of Travis playing along. My mind was officially blown. After they set him back down, Mark and Tom came back out and they ended with the song 'Dammit'.
Overall the concert was absolutely incredible despite the crowds, traffic, and pouring rain. If any of these bands come to your town, don't pass up seeing them.
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