Live: blink 182 @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre/Shoreline Amphitheatre

It’s important to remember when you fell in love.

There’s only one first time for it and it leaves one hell of an impression. Nothing in the world is quite like those small little tingling moments when your head feels light and your heart beats too fast. You swoon, and your mind takes a snapshot of how your body feels. It’s pretty incredible.

So one can imagine how it feels to feel that again, and I need to thank blink 182 for that.

While nostalgia has been running high on blink 182’s summer reunion tour, the band puts on a show that can almost justify the $40 t-shirts they sell. Supported by Chester French, Taking Back Sunday, and Weezer, blink 182 has assembled a ticket that’s interested in tapping into something deeper than just past reputations.

They want you to feel them like a force of nature (Or call girl), and that’s exactly what they accomplish.

The wet, rainy evening began with the rather bland Chester French, offering up half-hearted dance punk for the crowded masses. It left audiences hungry for the real large guns as Andrew "D.A." Wallach and Maxwell Drummey’s material simply failed to leave an impact. They dabble in big sing-a-long choruses and funky synthesizers, but lose the audience when they start singing about “laying pipe.”

Yet it made sense having them on the tour: They are a band desperately attempting to achieve great things through modest means. It’s a label that blink 182 heard all throughout their early days. In a fun way, it seemed like blink’s decision to include them was a nod to their younger years, perhaps hoping to grant Chester French with the same hope that their musical heroes gave them.

Still, there is no substitution for good music and the night’s performances only got better.

Taking Back Sunday ripped through a concise set that ignored a great deal of their old material, but proved they still have a great knack for working a crowd. Adam Lazzara still slithers like Gen Y’s Mick Jagger, and new guitarist Matt Fazzi seemed incredibly comfortable singing dual vocals on classics like “Cute Without The ‘E’ (Cut From The Team).” While the stutter stop energy and rusty riffs of “Sink Into Me” kept audiences on their toes, it was cuts from 2006’s Louder Now that truly made the set. “Liar (It Takes One To Know One)” hit the audience hard, Mark O’Conell’s deft cymbal work and Eddie Reye’s punchy guitar paving the way for Lazzara’s all-too-snide vocals. The band ending up closing with “MakeDamnSure,” the stadium echoing Lazzara’s romantic throes syllable for syllable.

While it’s clear that Taking Back Sunday has lost a great performer with the departure of Fred Mascherino, they provided a show that was tight, precise, and no-nonsense. Which was great, because Weezer brought the first wave of nonsense.

Led by vocalist/guitarist Rivers Cuomo (the 12-year-old trapped in a 39-year-old body), Weezer put forth a show that was high in shenanigans and power-pop. While the band’s matching jumpsuits and ukulele smashing antics kept fans laughing, it was the music that kept them entertained. Playing close to half the songs on 1994’s Weezer (The Blue Album) the band reminded fans that they still have a knack for being the coolest uncool guys ever. “Undone (The Sweater Song)” still crunches with all the fuzz and dorky self-loathing that made it huge more than a decade ago, while “Pork & Beans” chugs along with its thick melodies and awkward wit. Elsewhere, “Say It Ain’t So’s” flashy guitar solo let Weezer pretend they were stadium gods, while their new single “If You’re Wondering If I Want You To (I Want You To)” reminds fans that they can still write charming love songs.

Still it’s Weezer’s imperfections and their consistent pursuit of rock grandeur that continue to charm. While they’re sonic palate has expanded a bit (Brian Bell playing keyboards on “Perfect Situation,” Pat Wilson occasionally picking up a guitar and shredding on “Hash Pipe”), it’s Weezer’s ability to shoot for the power-pop moon and fall slightly short that pushes people to see their live set. They’ve never been a sophisticated band, but their talent stems from hitting hard with hooks, sweet melodies and clumsy situations. It’s endearing, in a “kids-playing-superheroes-with-a-towel-for-a-cape” type of fashion.

In short, Weezer understand why people love them and they love to give the people what they want. Love is not based in perfection it’s based in balance, a balance of fun and meaning.

blink 182 understood that too.

As the black curtain dropped to the opening pick slide of “Dumpweed,” the San Diego trio put together a 2 hour set full of the things that their fans fell in love with. There was machine-like precision of Travis Barker’s drumming, Mark Hoppus’ wistful singing and bouncing bass, and Tom DeLonge’s messy guitar and 12th grade mindset. Yet the most compelling part of the show was how much fun the trio seemed to be having just playing together, revisiting through their back catalog and their biggest singles.

Sure, DeLonge’s voice can’t always hit the notes he could a decade ago, and the band would occasionally fall out of step with one another, but the passion they had for their songs was front and center. Cuts such as the snotty “Anthem Pt. 2” and wildly dissonant “Stockholm Syndrome” were punctuated with added fervor from their studio counterparts. Additionally, the band treated fans to extended instrumental sections on ballads like the Tim Burton-esque “I Miss You” and “Down.” Rain kept the audience cold and shivering, but there was hardly a mouth that wasn’t screaming alongside Hoppus or DeLonge’s lyrics.

It was all love, pure and simple.

However, the real fascinating part about the show was how well blink’s discography seemed to gel. A thick and chunky rendition of “What’s My Age Again?” seemed right at home next to the abrasive thump of “Violence.” “Carousel” wasn’t its thinly recorded self, it was a furious 3 chord assault that felt comfortable next to the swirling bass work and dreamy guitar playing of “Always.” Supplementing their goofy charisma with passionate playing, blink 182 were able to present audiences with a consistent summation of their past and present without feeling like a tribute to themselves. In fact, it was clear that it came from a place of love, right down to DeLonge’s t-shirt.

Standing there as the house lights came up, it was evident that the evening had been all about love (Even if the merch booth was about cash). Seeing Hoppus and DeLonge crack sex jokes and embrace on stage within a matter of minutes could have only happened if they really believed in what they were doing as a band. 2009’s blink 182 wants to play these songs as an extension of who they are, and seeing them live reminds listeners why they bought their albums in the first place.

It’s love, the ability to revisit something and have it move you like it did so many years ago. It means taking something into yourself, warts and all, because you see some of the truest truths in it.

It’s love, and blink 182 gets it.