Most post-graduate twenty somethings have spent time and energy distancing themselves from the bands they listened to in high school. Instead, they pursue artists that frequent trendy, underground, PBR-pushing venues, and try to block the memories of pop punk’s early days from their minds. The Chicago Vinyl District writers (Pat & Eric), on the other hand, have never denied their continued enjoyment and nostalgia of ‘90s pop-punk. In fact, we embrace it.
Case-in-point: Last Saturday’s Honda Civic Tour with Blink-182 & My Chemical Romance.
When it came time to buy tickets for the show, we opted for the low-priced General Admission (Lawn) tickets because we, like most of our aforementioned PBR-swilling comrades, are poor as hell. The morning that started off with torrential downpours and late arrivals, ended with a story of how we went from a night destined for rain, mud, and lots of shoving, to chilling in private sky boxes and 25th row floor seats.
“Q101 Lives on!” was the phrase that paid, and before we knew it we were winning a contest we didn’t even know was being held. Q101, for those who don’t already know, was Chicago’s only Alternative radio station, which was recently muscled off of the airwaves and reduced to streaming online. Being lifelong fans, we managed to track down the guy who was handing out free stickers, and were given VIP tickets from the owners of Q101 themselves.
Pat’s tickets granted him access the private Q101 sky box, while Eric’s were for the owner’s private floor seats: 25 rows from the stage.
Pat: I guess it’s up to me to start this thing. After a quick good bye to my fellow TVD writer, I climbed the stairs to the private booth. Sitting amongst other “contest winners” we were just in time to catch the best part of My Chemical Romance’s set.
Eric: I’ve probably been to the massive, outdoor First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre twenty times, and I’ve never sat closer than the 200 level seats. As I walked the rows looking for my number, I just kept getting closer and closer to the front. By the time I found row Y, I realized I was an insane 25 rows back from the massive stage where My Chemical Romance was tearing through their mega-hit “Helena”. They ended their set with an incredible rendition of “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”.
Pat: After a brief exploration of the tents set up all around the venue, I made my way back to the suite, where I got a chance to talk with Mike, the man who gave us the tickets. We talked for what seemed like only a second when the crowd began to roar so loud, it could only mean one thing: Mark, Tom, and Travis were taking the stage.
Eric: After My Chemical Romance had finished, I met up with Pat again and we found our way to one of the staples of the Honda Civic Tour – the customized Honda Civic designed by the band, that travels along with the tour. It was crazy cool. Then the screaming started.
Pat: From here it was an amazing sight. With iPhone in hand, I snapped as many pictures as I could (as blurry as they came out). When the trio broke into their punk anthem “Dumpweed”, I went from mature adult, to the 17 year old version of me, who wore baggy shorts and black t-shirts wishing “my friends were 21”. The three gentlemen on that stage have been through a lot (“nearly 20 years we’ve been doing this…”), and they are as incredible as ever.
Eric: The show was unbelievable. The music, the performance, and even the light show. As Mark Hoppus (vocals/bass) remarked multiple times throughout the night, “Lasers!”. The boys haven’t lost of bit of their signature obscene banter over the years spent apart, and it felt like listening to a few old friends. After blazing through a even amount of well-worn hits and brand new tracks, the band left the stage for the break before the encore. What happened when they came back out is hard to do justice to in just words.
Pretty awesome right? The video’s not from Chicago, but you get the idea. The show closed with their signature track, the angsty “Dammit”. “Well I guess this is growing up.”
Pat: After the show, I realized that amongst the older group in the suite, there was one young girl whose grin reached ear to ear. Sporting a fedora and an MCR t-shirt, she made it clear that this next group of kids are just as ready to rock out as we were at that age. The perspective of the show from 15 year old Kaleigh and I are one in the same; the show was simply “Amazing.” From the people who paid $200 to be smashed against the stage, to those who paid $20 for the nose bleeds, there just wasn’t a bad seat in the place (but being in a private sky box sure helped).
Set List:
Feeling This
Up All Night
Rock Show
What’s My Age Again?
Down
I Miss You
Stay Together for the Kids
Dumpweed
Always
Violence
After Midnight
First Date
Hearts All Gone
Man Overboard
Ghost on the Dance Floor
All the Small Things
Josie
Drum Solo
Carousel
Dammit
Blink-182’s new album, Neighborhoods, is scheduled for release September 27, 2011 through Geffen Records, and will be the band’s first album of new material in eight years. The Honda Civic Tour is wrapping up on October 15 in Chula Vista, California.
For those of you who may be slowly coming to terms with old high school favorites, you can check out the video for Neighborhoods lead single “Up All Night” below, which premiered last night at Blink182.com.
