Blink-182 cuts Milwaukee gig short for sick Tom DeLonge, and Kourtney Kardashian was there

The classic Blink-182 lineup of singer-guitarist Tom DeLonge, singer-bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker played Milwaukee for the first time in 13 years Wednesday at Fiserv Forum.

Unfortunately, DeLonge — who left the band in 2015, then came back in 2022 — had some bad news.

"This is the deal, I'm going to be honest with you guys," DeLonge announced 15 minutes into the show. "I'm sick as (expletive)."

"If it sounds like I'm struggling, you're going to pick up and sing with me, does that sound good?" DeLonge continued. "Because I'm just like a Navy Seal. I don't (expletive) quit and I can do push-ups."

With no other guitarist on stage, DeLonge soldiered on admirably, playing his parts capably if not with grand enthusiasm or flair — at one point, spraying his throat with eucalyptus oil — and offering plenty of groan-worthy infantile jokes between songs (as did Hoppus), as is customary for the band.

But ultimately, the band did quit the show earlier than expected, and DeLonge needed the audience to do a lot of heavy lifting on vocals for the night's 15th song, "I Miss You." The packed arena of fans was more than happy to help out, offering the night's loudest singalong, with DeLonge singing just a couple words himself and tapping his chest in gratitude.

"OK, there's a certain situation happening," DeLonge said at the show's one-hour mark, after "I Miss You." "I can't physically do a few of these things that are on the setlist."

Then he riffed with Hoppus about urinary tract infections and underwear.

But DeLonge was being serious about his incapabilities, so Hoppus and DeLonge discussed adjusting the game plan on the fly.

"You guys are getting the most special show of the whole tour so far," Hoppus told the crowd. "We're throwing away the (expletive) setlist, we're going rogue, we're shooting from the hip."

The crowd bought what Hoppus was selling — getting a kick, for instance, out of the apparent addition Wednesday of "M+M's," which only Hoppus sings, and covering for DeLonge on vocals for his parts on the night's penultimate number, "All the Small Things."

But by that point, it became clear the band was rushing to wrap things up, and this "special show" ended up being a shorter show; the band clocked out after 22 songs and 83 minutes. According to setlist.fm, Blink-182 has been doing 26-song sets at its most recent arena gigs. Standards "Always" and "First Date;" newer tunes "Anthem Part 3" and "One More Time;" and side project hits "When Your Heart Stops Beating" and "There Is" didn't make the cut in Milwaukee.

As the lights came up in the arena after finale "Dammit" (complete with Hoppus singing a snippet of Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"), you could see flashes of surprise and disappointment in the eyes of some fans.

But I'd wager that most, if not all, of those fans would agree that Blink-182 still put on an entertaining show. The band played on a circular stage almost in the middle of the arena floor, the mic stands and Barker's drum platform rotating throughout the night so they could face different sections of the arena.

But Hoppus, and even DeLonge, were hardly stationary, dividing and conquering different areas of the circle to engage with fans.

The set-up offered intimacy, but its simplicity was deceiving. Three massive hidden lighting rigs made their first descent and moved around during "Aliens Exist," the set enhanced with bursts of fire and fireworks and, on a few occasions, steam that completely covered the band.

And when Barker screamed his way through the quick and mighty "(Expletive) Face," searing bursts of white flames shot out from the floor all around him.

Ultimately, Barker was, and has long been, the band's greatest special effect. Relentless with aggressive, lightning-quick attacks on the kit, he was glistening with sweat by the night's third song "Man Overboard," the shirt coming off soon after that.

It was exhausting, in a good way, watching him play, but Barker was indeed like a Navy Seal on the kit. In fact, there was a fleeting moment during "Bored to Death" that doesn't have a drum part, where Barker dramatically threw his arms back over his hunched, tattoo-covered back, looking like the forced break was killing him.

He is truly the Muppets' Animal in human form.

Barker also was the star of the show's coolest set piece, his platform suspended above the stage as he smashed through "Not Now," and he continued playing in the air for new unreleased song "Can't Go Back," "I Miss You" and "Down."

And he also delivered the night's memorable sendoff. With cameras filming Barker and his bandmates making their exits for the show's big screens, they captured his celebrity wife Kourtney Kardashian waiting in the wings, with a no-doubt-exhausted Barker picking her up and carrying her down the hallway toward backstage, "An Officer and a Gentleman" style.

3 takeaways from Blink-182's Milwaukee concert, including openers Pierce The Veil, Astronoid

• I got a kick out of the song that played in Milwaukee as fans made their exits: the theme for "Happy Days." "Everybody here … has the energy of the (expletive) Fonz," Hoppus also said about a half-hour into Wednesday's show.

• In an arena, an in-the-round stage can be an intimidating prospect for an opening band, but it wasn’t for San Diego-hailing rockers Pierce The Veil. Across the band's 45-minute set, frontman Vic Puentes, lead guitarist Tony Perry and bassist Jaime Preciado were all electric showman — sprinting and spinning around the stage, leaping from risers, throwing guitars in the air and spinning them from a strap. But some of the more exciting moments were when the trio ignored the crowd and turned to visceral touring drummer Lionel Robinson, for the explosive start to “Bulls in the Bronx” and the big finish on “Pass the Nirvana.” Is it likely that Thom Yorke and the blokes in Radiohead would wince hearing Veil’s aggro take on “Karma Police”? Probably. But as a crowd-energizing tune from an opening band at a Blink-182 concert, it definitely did the trick.

• The four gents in Massachusetts-based Astronoid put their flowing hair to glorious use headbanging through ripe metal riffs and rhythms across the night-opening, half-hour set. But it was the juxtaposition of that density with Brett Boland’s dreamy falsetto that really made Astronoid soar.

Blink-182's Fiserv Forum setlist in Milwaukee

1. "Feeling This"

2. "The Rock Show"

3. "Man Overboard"

4. "Aliens Exist"

5. "Dance With Me"

6. "Obvious"

7. "Bored to Death"

8. "Edging"

9. "Up All Night"

10. "More Than You Know"

11. "Wendy Clear"

12. "Stay Together For The Kids"

13. "Not Now"

14. "Can't Go Back"

15. "I Miss You"

16. "Down"

17. "Going Away to College"

18. "M+M's"

19. "(Expletive) Face"

20. "What's My Age Again?"

21. "All the Small Things"

22. "Dammit"

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or [email protected]. Follow him on X at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Blink-182 cuts Milwaukee concert short for ailing Tom DeLonge