My ears are ringing, my throat is hoarse and my body is aching. These are the symptoms of a concert goer. Just left the Honda Civic Tour with Blink 182, My Chemical Romance and Manchester Orchestra. While my iTunes plays every Blink song I own I am ready to recap one of the best shows I have been to. Rewind to 7:15 pm as me and my sister approach the gates of Nissan Pavilion.. whoops I mean Jiffy Lube Live. After running into my PE teacher from PVI and some old Nissan Pavilion buddies from my internship we enter the lawn. Walking around the lawn looking for the prime spot we find our friends. The next hour is spent seeing every person I know in Northern VA.
Manchester Orchestra rocks out in the background while everyone vaguely listens. A few fan stands up and dance my singing voice seems to carry as some lawn people stare. I don’t care, it was The River! Now queue My Chemical Romance. After an odd mix of Rihanana, see Gerard’s pink hair, some 80s jams and a little screamo I was a little done. They did play a handful of songs from Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. Hearing “I’m OK” and “Welcome to the Black Parade” took me back to dancing around in my friend’s living rooms while the music videos played on the screen.
I grab a HoneyMoon beer barefoot walking around the venue with the warm concrete on my feet.How can everyone not love summer? 9:25 pm the lawn lights dim and Blink 182 walks on stage. Large cut outs from the Neighborhoods album, coming out September 27th, line the stage. They start high energy with the hits “Feeling this”, “First Date”, Down” and “Dumpweed”. The songs are rolled out as we screamed the lyrics we have known for years back at the stage.
The normal immature banter from the stage was greeted with applause and laughter. Twice Travis’s drum kit broke and during the repairs Tom and Mark entertained us. This means we got to hear “Fuck a Dog” and “Blow Job”. Truly capturing the spirit that is Blink 182. “Whats my age again”, “All the small things”, “Rock show”, “Miss you”, “Violence”, “Always”, “Don’t leave me” came all in a row. It felt like they would never stop. The lawn went insane most pits formed every 20 feet and some people tried to crowd surf.
The new songs “Up All Night” and “Heart All Gone” were sung along by some in tune fans. The two new songs were a little lost, leaving the slower new song totally lost. Finally the show came to a close with an epic solo from Travis Barker. With a DJ dubstep mix repeating “can the drummer get some”. No one bangs a set like him… while flying in the air. Dammit takes us out, the band leaves the stage and the lights turn on.
Sweaty, excited and wanting more we are unsure of what to do. Big Booty Hoes played over the speakers adding to the confusion. As we head to the parking lot I cannot help smiling. Driving down 66 East, windows down replaying our favorite songs I fall in love with the concert experience all over again. Who’s ready to just follow the Honda Civic Tour all summer? Maybe my job will wait for me…
my feet don't want to go to sleep 