Blink 180 TRUE is made up of Bob Amendola on guitar and vocals, Shawn Barry on bass and vocals, as well as Chris Collins on drums. They hail from Southern California.
“Wow. What’s up Long Island?” Bob asked. “We are Blink 180 TRUE and we are coming to play music for you.” They opened their set with “Feeling This.” “Long Island, sing along with us right now,” they said.
“This is a rock show,” they exclaimed, and immediately broke into the song of the same name “Rock Show,” with Shawn on lead vocals. They shared that they would be playing songs from Enema of the State, and continued with its opening track “Dumpweed.”
“Look at all these sexy people out here,” Shawn said, and they continued with “Aliens Exist,” as purple lights dimmed from the stage.
Shawn asked if anybody in the crowd has gotten a “college degree and Herpes?” so it was only appropriate for them to sing “Going Away to College.”
“How are we doing Long Island?” they asked, and everybody seemed to be having a blast as they were partying along. “Pathetic” was melodically powerful, and they incorporated “First Date” as a crowd sing-along, where drummer Chris Collins went crowd surfing. “Thank you guys so much for hanging out with us,” they said, graciously. “Give yourselves a round of applause for being awesome,” they added.
After “Dysentery Gary,” they delivered an upbeat and fun rendition of “Man Overboard” and “Anthem Pt II.” They continued with “Wendy Clear.” Other noteworthy vocals were “All The Small Things,” with Bob on lead vocals, where everybody was singing along, and they literally had the lights turned off during the part of the song where they sang “turn the lights off, carry me home.”
They also sang the new Blink-182 single “Bored to Death” and they introduced themselves (as band members) to their Long Island audience. Equally fun was the bittersweet “Adam’s Song,” “Dammit” and the highlight performance of the night was “What’s My Age Again?” where Bob showcased his prowess on guitar.
The Verdict
Overall, Blink 180 TRUE put on a fun, entertaining, unfiltered and spitfire show at Mulcahy’s Pub and Concert Hall in New York. They interacted well with the crowd as they shared many of the actual Blink-182 antics with them. Bob and Shawn nailed the vocals, while Chris killed the drums, proving to be in a league of his own (at one point, he even played the drums while simultaneously balancing a Poland Spring bottle on his head). They are highly recommended seeing live whenever they are in the area. Nobody does Blink-182 better than them, and they made you feel like you were in high school and college again. Their live “Rock Show” garnered an “A” rating. Well done guys.
For more information on Blink 180 TRUE, check out their Facebook page and website.
