Blink-182 returns to Nashville for a night of pop-punk nostalgia

A crowd of thousands — from semi-retired mall punks to beer-guzzling college kids and middle-aged parents reliving the soundtrack to suburban teenage angst — gathered Sunday inside Bridgestone Arena to answer one question: What's our age, again?

Steering this one-night trip down a road of 1990s and 2000s pop-punk nostalgia? Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker — AKA California-born rock band Blink-182.

Known for inescapable singalongs (who can listen to "All The Small Things" without singing na-na-na-na, after all?) and unfiltered stage banter, Blink-182 reunited this summer for the first tour with DeLonge since he exited the band in 2015. DeLonge's extended departure — squashed last year after Hoppus' bout with stage four cancer that helped bring the estranged bandmates together again — fueled audiences' appetite for a celebratory Blink-182 tour. This summer's run of shows became one of the most sought-after tickets in live music, bested by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, but little else.

And in Nashville on the last night of the North American tour, Blink-182 played the songs — and delivered a few of the jokes — that helped concertgoers forget their age, if only for an hour-and-a-half.

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"It's been a long time since we played Nashville, and we missed you," Hoppus said at one point, leading Barker and DeLonge into fan-favorite "I Miss You."

Kicking off with a one-two punch of 2001's "Anthem Part Two" and "The Rock Show" (which included a front-row proposal during the line "I feel in love with a girl at the rock show"), the 25-song set leaned into material many waited years to hear DeLonge, Hoppus and Barker play together again: "Reckless Abandon," "Feeling This," "Stay Together For The Kids," "Aliens Exist," "Dumpweed" ... and the list continues.

On a condensed, square stage armed with confetti canons and fire-shooting pyrotechnics, Barker — often a blur of arms and rhythmic headbanging — performed a third of the set from an elevated platform while DeLonge and Hoppus alternated lead vocal duties between heel-toe shuffling and jump-kicks, respectively.

Between tunes, DeLonge and Hoppus workshopped jokes that ranged from good-hearted teasing (like the hipster dress code Hoppus saw in some Nashville neighborhoods during his visit) to crass innuendos (a DeLonge specialty).

"People walk away from this show, confused, wondering what the (expletive) they just saw," Hoppus said at one point. "'Was it funny?' I don't know. 'Were they good?' I can't tell you. I had fun.'"

For onlookers reciting every word, these songs can still be a candid soundtrack to life-shaping moments, like budding love ("First Date"), crumbling homes ("Stay Together For The Kids") and heart-sinking regret ("I Miss You").

And when the band arrived at "Adam's Song," Hoppus explained that it helped save his life — twice.

"I wrote this next song when I was at a point in my life that I didn't that I wanted to keep going. ... This song saved my life," Hoppus said, introducing the 1999 track. Choking up with tears, he continued: "A couple years ago, I found myself in the same position, but this time it wasn't by choice. I was diagnosed with stage four lymphoma cancer. ... I thought for sure that once word got out that I was cancerous and I was fighting this thing, the (expletive) Internet would be like, '(expletive) you, a*****e. You deserve to die.'

"I was a (expletive) empty, hollow shell of a human being. This band, ... and being here on stage with all of you, saved my life a second time."

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After the emotion-driven rendition of "Adam's Song," the band steamrolled into a handful of hits, closing the show with "What's My Age Again?," "First Date," "All The Small Things" and cornerstone hit, "Dammit" — a song that, despite a snarky chorus of "I guess this growing up," reminds listeners that no one is never too old to feel young again.

Blink-182 setlist in Nashville

• Anthem Part Two

• The Rock Show

• Family Reunion

• Man Overboard

• Feeling This

• Reckless Abandon

• Violence

• Up All Night

• Dysentery Gary

• Dumpweed

• Edging

• Aliens Exist

• Cynical

• Happy Holidays …

• Stay Together for the Kids

• Always

• Down

• Bored to Death

• I Miss You

• Adam’s Song

• Ghost On The Dance Floor

• What’s My Age Again?

• First Date

• All The Small Things

• Dammit

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Blink-182 comes to Nashville for a night of pop-punk nostalgia