Last week, Blink 182 and My Chemical Romance rolled into Atlanta on the Honda Civic Tour. Both bands have been known for garnering national and international attention over the years due to their easily relatable messages with the young adult crowd and energetic live performances. The new tour and their stop in Atlanta would definitely prove to back their reputations.

First off, this crowd in Aarons Amphitheatre was comparable to recent festivals that have come into town. The show’s openers, duo Matt & Kim share a similar sensibility to Blink and MCR. The duo’s shows were once the territory of mostly crusty DIY types who seemed to want permission to drop the Amebix records and dance to pop music, albeit in a warehouse. But since the group has continued to tour, enjoyed spots in commercials, and even significantly cleaned up its look, it’s now too entered the pop world at large.

My Chemical Romance began their set with an unforgettable production, even incorporating lighting into their microphone stands. Every little detail seemed to be meticulously worked out, from their lighting to their interaction with the crowd. Each member constantly controlled different parts of the stage and provided entertainment by themselves as well as interacting with each other, providing photo-ops galore.

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As Blink 182 took the stage in the darkness, the crowd began to roar with anticipation of their return. As the lights went up, the boys in Blink took the stage with energy and an insane light show dominated by strobes and a changing back round of city scenes. Acting like they were teenagers again, Tom and Mark joked around with the crowd and Travis, at one point Mark even toyed around with Travis by giving him the fist. For only having three members, Blink 182 had the stage presence of a band with five members, each of them skipping and running around in between singing their vocal parts like they were a young band fresh on tour and ready to conquer the world.