blink-182 -- Kansas City, KS -- September 4th, 2009

Woot!

It rained while I was waiting in line, but let up right as soon as I got in the venue. They had the side stage set up on the lawn section of the amphitheater, so as the stages traded off having bands play on each of them, it was easy to watch all of them.

First band was Billy Boy On Poison. Stupid name aside, they were kind enjoyable. They're a hard/alt. rock band from LA, so you pretty much know what they sound like. They were loud, there were solos, and the vocalist was stumbling around on himself on acid. An entertaining show all-around. Songs included: On My Way, Happy Valentine's Day. 7/10

Opening the main stage was Company of Thieves. An indie rock band (emphasis on indie), the first couple of songs were mediocre, but they really turned it up near the end of their set. Not awesome, but not too bad either. Modest Mouse with female vocals. Songs included: Oscar Wilde, Under the Umbrella. 7/10

Mac Lethal was the only person probably on either stage from Kansas City, and definitely the only one who lived there still. A really awesome underground rapper, it was just him and his DJ on the second stage. He made tons of references to places around KC. The beats wuz phat, and da lyricks was sick. He should've played longer. Songs included: Rotten Apple Pie, Crazy (Perfectly Content). 8/10

The only really bad band of the day was Chester French. They made ironic faux-hipster music for ironic faux-hipster junior high girls. Haha, white rappers! lolololol. No. 3/10

stellastarr* was next on the side-stage. Pretty straight-forward indie-rock, but they did it very well. The vocals weren't too high in the mix, but it all turned out to be very enjoyable. 7.5/10

I've been a fan for a while, so seeing The Von Bondies finally was really a treat. It's a heavier and funner version of the White Stripes (lol irony) and the crowd went nuts. Lots of crowd surfers, and they were loud. Really glad I finally got to see them. Songs included: C'mon C'mon. 8.5/10

Apparently the best local band the Kansas City area has to offer are The Republic Tigers. I could see how they say that. Again, a pretty standard indie rock band, but they do it well. Not too much crowd interaction, but they rocked pretty well. Songs included: Buildings & Mountains, Made Concrete. 7.5/10

The last time I saw blink-182, Taking Back Sunday opened, so I was eager to see if I still liked them as much as I did back in 2004. Unfortunately, while the songs were high energy and memorable, the vocalist and new guitarist/vocalist can't hold a candle to past members and had a hard time recreating their sound. They're still a very fun band, but they played too much new stuff. 7.5/10

Setlist:

What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?
?
?
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Liar (It Takes One To Know One)
Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team)
Where My Mouth Is
A Decade Under The Influence
Makedamnsure

The last band on the side stage was Matt & Kim. It's comprised of 2 people named, well, Matt & Kim. Kim drums, Matt uses a synth. If they weren't so unironically happy and stoked to be playing, I'd almost dismiss their sound as a stupid hipster sound. But they weren't too bad. Lots of mini-covers of songs. Biggest side stage crowd of the day. Songs included: Daylight. 6/10

Weezer was the best band of the day. Seriously. Every song had people going crazy and everyone sang along. They played almost every one of their big hits and it made for one of the most enjoyable music sets I've ever seen. Rivers even had a trampoline he used when he wasn't playing the guitar! Best song of the night: Perfect Situation. 9.5/10

Setlist:

1. War Pigs (Black Sabbath Cover) > Hash Pipe
2. Troublemaker
3. Undone - The Sweater Song
4. Surf Wax America
5. Perfect Situation
6. (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To
7. Say It Ain't So
8. My Name Is Jonas
9. Island In The Sun
10. The Good Life
11. Pork and Beans
12. Beverly Hills
13. Buddy Holly
14. Should I Stay Or Should I Go (The Clash cover)

Third time seeing blink-182. I was forever scared that they'd be super serious if they ever reunited, but I was thankfully wrong. Tons of stupid immature fart and penis and gay jokes and changed lyrics to make fun of someone's mom were intact. Was it stupid? Yes, but it was fun. For 2 hours, I was transported back to junior high and I couldn't have been happier. Too much new stuff, though. But they played Josie and Man Overboard! 9/10

1. Dumpweed
2. Feeling This
3. The Rock Show
4. What's My Age Again?
5. Obvious
6. I Miss You
7. Stay Together For The Kids
8. Down
9. Always
10. Stockholm Syndrome
11. First Date
12. Man Overboard
13. Going Away To College
14. Not Now
15. All The Small Things
16. Reckless Abandon
17. Josie
18. Anthem Part II
encore
19. Carousel
20. Damnit