Blink 182 at Brixton Academy

When I was at school, many years ago, Blink 182 were my dirty little secret. I thought that they were far more 'pop' than 'punk' and that admitting that I liked them was a bit like saying I liked Britney Spears. Which I didn't.

Fast-forward a few years and I made a shocking discovery… that all of my friends (many of whom were male, heavily tattooed and in bands themselves) loved Blink 182 as much as me. And they weren't even a little bit ashamed to admit it!

The only problem is that I never went to see them back then and they have since become so commercially successful that they mostly play the kind of massive venues that I'm not a huge fan of. The emotion tends to get a little lost in a stadium, when the band are blurry dots in the distance and you are relying on the big screens to know what's going on. So when Blink 182 announced a date at Brixton Academy I was one very happy bunny.

Aged 27 I'm not even remotely embarrassed to admit that when they appeared on stage on Wednesday night, I was insanely excited and had a big fat smile on my face – ok the bottle of Sauvignon Blanc probably contributed to it, but that smile stayed on my face the whole show.

The setlist included songs from every album and it's a struggle to pick out any highlights as they have so many classics, and they just kept coming... Feeling This, The Rock Show, What's My age Again?, Dumpweed, I Miss You, Always, Josie.... seriously too many great songs to name!

There was even a short acoustic set that included Going Away to College and All of This (minus the lovely Robert Smith) and a four song encore that included Carousel and Dammit.

There are gigs that are disappointing, there are ones so good they make you a bit emotional and there are the ones that you know are a once in a lifetime opportunity. But this gig? Quite simply it was one big smile-fest from beginning to end. To see Blink 182 at Brixton was something I thought I'd missed out on many years ago and I am very grateful for the opportunity. Especially when the next night's show was cancelled due to Mark's bronchitis!

Get well soon Mark and I'm sorry Blink 182, that I ever thought I was too cool for you.