I never expected a review from a wine festival on this site. It’s not like wine and punk go together the same way as, say, a cold can of PBR. But lo and behold, this year’s Wine Amplified event was headlined by Blink-182 and thanks to the generosity of a friend, I found myself surrounded by the most interesting mix of people I’ve seen at a show in some time ready to sing along with the pop punk giants at the same location where Warped Tour 2012 took place (now renamed the MGM Resorts Village). Who would have imagined that the eternally immature band who sang “My love life was getting so bland / there are only so many ways I can make love with my hand” and proclaimed “I never want to act my age” would one day be headlining a fancy, 21+ event like this? But then again, Blink always did defy expectations.

The show kicked off the same as pretty much every Blink show since their 2009 reunion (which also took place in Vegas, at The Joint) with Untitled opener “Feeling This.” Blink always plays it really safe when it comes to setlists, so the parade of hits kept coming. Like a lot of Blink fans, I would absolutely love a set made up of deep cuts (“Enthused,” anyone?) but for a festival setting, where a big chunk of the crowd only knows Blink from the radio and a few were caught exclaiming “Hey, I do know these guys” when the chorus hit, I can’t blame them for playing it safe here. But the crowd energy was surprisingly high considering many had spent the day sipping wine in the still hot Vegas sun, and “What’s My Age Again?,” “The Rock Show” and “Up All Night” had people air-drumming and finger pointing with reckless abandon (note: Blink sadly did not play Take Of Your Pants… hidden gem “Reckless Abandon”).

Ballad “I Miss You,” also from Untitled, and bouncy TOYPAJ track “First Date” were other obvious crowd favorites (note: “Obvious” was not played either). Blink added a little Justin Bieber to their set in the form of a mini cover during Neighborhoods track “Ghosts on the Dancefloor” and I was excited to hear new(ish) track “Dogs Eating Dogs” from the EP of the same name played live, with Mark exuding the most passion of the night in that track’s vocals delivery, even if the crowd wasn’t as receptive to it as other songs.

Blink has been surprisingly resilient over the years, managing to stay relevant despite a breakup and having more than a decade since their last mainstream hit. Before the show, I attended the Travis Barker signing at the Meadows Mall and was pleasantly surprised that Blink has reached the fabled level of “multi-generational,” with just as many young teens decked out in Blink gear as us 30 somethings. They know their music appeals to teens and have done a great job continuing to reach that audience.

But as for Wine Amplified, which is in its 9th year, I’m very unclear as to who their target audience is. Past lineups featured radio indie acts like Young the Giant and this year’s was the slightly eclectic mix of Violent Femmes, Magic! (remember to shout their name, as the punctuation suggests), Train and New Beat Fund, among others. I wouldn’t expect Blink’s trademark brand of potty humor (the band did come out to a song titled “I’m a Cunt”) to go hand in hand with wine connoisseurs. I guess in my mind I picture Frasier and Niles Crane taking sips of Domaine de la Romanee and discussing Chaucer with Mozart playing softly in the background, not the overly enthusiastic frat boys that populated their post-Enema­ shows of my youth.

But the lushes came together for pumped fists and slurred words once the band kicked into “All the Small Things,” looked puzzled during the band’s cover of Misfits’ “Hybrid Theory” and laughed during obscene set closer “Family Reunion” (has any other band embraced their Short Music for Short People contribution as much as Blink has?). Call me juvenile, but seeing a group 50+ year old ladies try and headbang to Blink’s musical take on George Carlin’s “7 Dirty Words” bit is very grin worthy.

Blink has never really been a fantastic live band, technically speaking. By my count, this was the 12th time I’ve seen them, and while many bands get tighter with age, Blink still displays that sloppy “charm” of their youth. Sure, Travis earns his reputation as one of rock’s best drummers every night, but Mark and Tom make no effort to hide their loose playing style (if you go in expecting the two of them to have the meticulous proficiency of A Wilhelm Scream, you’re going to have a bad time), and Tom was sounding particularly rough in the vocal department this night.

Because of that, I would never recommend a Blink show to a non-fan. If you are someone who actively dislikes the band, their live set isn’t going to win you over, unless you find yourself amused enough at Mark and Tom’s stand up – at one point Tom said that playing the festival stage was like playing on the moon, with Mark countering that it was more like being on a first date and transitioned into play, well, you can probably guess what. But for us fans of the band it’s still so much fun hearing “Carousel” and “Dammit” live that those warts can be easily overlooked, even if, as my friend Aaron put it, the absence of “Josie” in their set list is an affront to god.

-Emily Matview

Blink 182 setlist:

Feeling This

What’s My Age Again?

The Rock Show

Up All Night

Down

I Miss You

Dumpweed

Wishing Well

Always

Stay Together for the Kids

Asthenia

First Date

Easy Target

Dogs Eating Dogs

Hybrid Moments (Misfits cover)

Man Overboard

Ghost on the Dancefloor

All the Small Things

Carousel

Encore:

Violence

Dammit

Family Reunion