Reviews Plus 44 par Kerrang

The last time Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker were in England, they were playing a gig at Wembley Arena while what was left of Blink 182 slowly that the pair were plotting this band and on the strength of tonight, there’s still more plotting to do.

Shorn of his partner is crime, Tom Delonge, Hoppus is still finding his feet as the sole front-man. At the start of the night he’s all energy bounding around the stage when not chained to the mic - pogoing, occasionally goofing and sometimes flicking his guitar players in the face. He tries jokes between the songs, some more successful than others, and tries to whoop the crowd up. But it’s an act that he slowly tires of towards the end of the night, preferring to stand still in front of his audience and his songs.It’s perhaps in the songs that there could be a problem. According to Hoppus, these are songs that were hewn from the darkest period of his life. Certainly the likes of “No It Isn’t”, the first song Hoppus wrote in the aftermath of the Blink split reference how bad life had got with its Tom Delonge-balting lyrics of “Please Understand This Isn’t Just Goodbye, This Is I can’t Stand You”. But the problem is that few tunes would sound out of place as later day blink 182 b-sides - not quite the real thing but not bad enough to discard. Elsewhere nothing takes off wih quite the gusto and force necessary.

The problem is in the lack of ambition. This was a chance to break the mould, to break free of the restrictions set by Blink 182 but they fail to grab the opportunity instead they rely on one-paced tunes, songs pledding along with no sense of purpose, no hurry to get anywhere. Hoppus voice is too restrained by his limited range, each melody line blending into the last until the gig simply flizes out with lack of excitement.

But this is criticism that should be tempered by the fact that this is only their second ever show and so the benefit of the doubt should remain with the band. Certainly, this is a far more accomplished performance than Delonge’s inauspicious first UK show with Angels and Airwaves. Still, if Hoppus and Barker are keen to shake off the demons of their past, they’re going to have to do a lot better than this.