Blink-182 and Friends Rock Out at Hersheypark Stadium

Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 Photo by Jenna Kauffman

Mark Hoppus of Blink-182

Photo by Jenna Kauffman

On Saturday, Aug. 27, Blink-182 brought its North American Tour with opening acts A Day to Remember, All Time Low, and DJ Spider to Hersheypark Stadium. The venue, jam packed with people, brought the sound full-force as things kicked off.

DJ Spider took the stage first, warming everyone up for the other three bands. He remixed current and old-school songs, especially the pop-punk anthems, to get everyone in the mood for Blink-182.

Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low Photo by Jenna Kauffman

Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low

Photo by Jenna Kauffman

All Time Low took the stage at 7 p.m., following DJ Spider’s 45-minute set. The band played around eight songs, and rocked out to their hardest potential. Unfortunately, they had to cut their current single, “Missing You,” from the set list, due to technical difficulties with acoustic  instruments. However, the band did not keep the crowd waiting long as they decided to scrap the song and move onto the next one. They also played “Six Feet Under the Stars,” which was not on the original set list, and left fans in a frenzy.

Next up was A Day to Remember, who did not slow things down in the slightest. In fact, to start the set, they threw beach balls out into the crowd. During their song “All Signs Point to Lauderdale,” the band threw toilet paper, which could be taken as a visual representation of the song lyrics. At one point, lead singer Jeremy McKinnon crowd surfed in a human-sized hamster ball, and somehow managed not to get dropped and made it back to the stage. They definitely kept everything interactive.

Finally, to round up the show, Blink-182 performed. They did not disappoint, having a lot of pyro-technic effects going on, including popping sounds that sounded like fireworks. It kept the crowd alert and also offered an awesome stage set-up. This is the first tour for Blink-182 with their newest member, Matt Skiba, who replaced former member, Tom DeLonge. While Skiba was definitely more on the shy side, Mark Hoppus (bassist) kept things humorous with some witty banter every now and then.

Audience at Hershey Stadium Photo by Jenna Kauffman

Audience at Hersheypark Stadium

Photo by Jenna Kauffman

Overall, the show was not one to miss. The tour is set to continue until the beginning of October, so there is still a chance to see this show if interested. For a list of tour dates, go to http://blink182.com/.

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