31 thoughts on “Blink 182 Live (feat. Backing Tracks) THOUGHTS”
I think, in regards to Tom's live singing voice, people need to remember that he fucked up his voice during the recording of the first Angels & Airwaves album, because he quit drugs cold turkey and blew out his voice screaming from withdrawals. And you can especially tell live that he's still never fully recovered from that. (Also, Green Day's second guitarist is Jason White)
There is backing tracks but yes he is playing guitar. And adding interesting extras. Saw them in Manchester Uk, was a really fun night and Tom really wants to be in Blink. Much better than when I saw them in 2014.
They sounded great when I saw them this year in Austin, as AVA did in ‘21 when I saw them. I liked the raw sound they had in that Denny’s video but for the big shows I think it’s just to give the fans a great show. And they did that. Can’t wait for the next tour.
Tom was definitely playing last tour. Saw them in Atlanta and at UBS. There is definitely another guitar on a track tho. A lot of songs have chords over lead riffs and tom cant really play them both at the same time
I've watched a few live videos of them recently and Tom is definitely still playing guitar. From what I can tell the backing tracks seem to like over dub lead tracks while he plays the main rhythm stuff
When it comes to live performances there are many musicians that play versions of their songs that are slightly different from the studio recordings. I totally get that but sometimes I really wonder how Tom breaks down his play live. For example when they play Dance Withe Me he doesn't even really move his left hand up and down the fretboard while playing the chords of the verse and stuff like that
I think most of the “backing tracks” are really just the background rhythm parts that Tom can’t physically play while he’s doing more of the lead/ melody parts. I don’t think they’re running backing tracks for the exact parts he’s playing. At least they weren’t when I saw them back in the summer.
There's this really annoying blink fan account on insta that post live clips. But the problem is that they overlay board audio from their first Coachella performance on them. So when the video isn't matching up, people accuse Tom of miming. I can assure you, he's not. There are tracks but the bulk of the guitar and vocal sound is completely live. They do however use Auto-Tune in real-time now, but so does every almost every big artist nowadays.
Saw them last month. Tom is playing lead guitar. The backin tracks are just for a few rythm parts when the songs have 2 guitars, and for piano and synth parts of course…
Blink is not using backing tracks as in pop star backing tracks. Theyre playing their oarts but the other tracks aside from the main guitar are tracks. Hes definitely gotten better at playing guitar and singing this time around. Also wime of these videos are dovtored. Theres this one channel that posts these videos of the current tour but replaces its audio woth the album audio which is strange. Don't trust those videos.
I think they should have a second guitar player live. Some no name hired pro guy playing in the back corner of the stage. I mean All time low has one too and they even have Alex and Jack playing. Just gives them the freedom to do crazy jumps and such on stage without the performance suffering.
It’s not the backing tracks that bother me. It’s the ridiculous amount of autotune they are using on the vocals because they’re catering to the newer, younger crowd who are accustomed to hearing things that sound perfect and are solely created by a computer. I feel like half of the crowd are kids who found them on TikTok, or discovered them, because Travis is married to a Kardashian. It’s all very social media-based with them now, more so than it’s ever been. It kind of ruins it for me. Also, unfortunately, every song on this album has at least two outside songwriters that have written for five seconds of summer and Maroon 5. It’s no longer Mark, Tom and Travis
Tom and Mark have been sloppy live since I saw them in 1998 to today.
There's other stuff to consider too. There's anxiety, there's repetitive use injuries that can happen too from bending over and playing a guitar for 2 hours a night for months on end. There's a physical strain to performing and touring.
For playing live, I've always wondered why blink didn't add a second guitarist for live shows. Of course of you have it digitally? Why not…
I had made that comment, thank you for doing this video. You had a very fair take and I’ve wondered for a while what you thought about this. I feel like some of the songs he plays on and others he mines entirely. I saw him in Chicago and pretty close up in Detroit. I’ve also seen some videos as well like dysentery Gary that seems like he’s way off from what you’re hearing. Kind of a bummer but it is what it is
I like how this started as a defense of Tom but ended up trash talking him as a bad guitarist and lazy 😂 I agree though, I saw them live, there are more guitars coming out of the speakers than there are guitars on stage. Still a fabulous show.
seen him live pre and post 'backing tracks', so during the first period of the untitled record(so before the hiatus), it seems they just went at it the 3 of them and I thought it sounded cool, but since for songs like I Miss You and Always, they use backing tracks for the synths and stuff(and I think they use a click now in general no matter the song)
As for the most recent blink touring, I think his guitar tech does the tones changes for him for the most part, he does have a controller on stage with him but he seems to not use it like he did before
Blink were always know as a a pretty terrible live band sound wise but that never took the fun away from there shows, I'm massively happy there using some backing tracks and auto tune vocals, I saw them at the o2 london and they sounded phenomenal , Tom definitely plays a bit …how much I don't no
As long as they sound great live, im all for anything. However, i have seen some videos live that suggest imo Tom is miming the guitar. Sometimes his pick slides don't line up or his strumming patterns seem off. I'd hope this isnt the case and these videos just get compressed from being posted on platforms causing audio video issues, otherwise I'd be fairly disappointed.
People crying about them using backing tracks is the biggest overreaction and an actual weirdo critique. If the instruments were unplugged and they were lip syncing. That’s an issue.
I saw them in Manchester and it was the best I'd ever seen them sound, they were tight, played really well and put on a great show. There was a rawness to it cuz they were still very much playing, the backing tracks were more just to fill out the sound and honestly I don't mind it, it works and they don't need to have other players on stage with them, sure Green Day have that but blink has always been best as a trio and should really be left like that
I saw them live in Seattle. Tom's guitar tone does change automatically. Perhaps MIDI programmed in or someone behind the stage doing the switching. I think it makes the show sound better but does take something away from watching him perform.
They suck live, but what makes it seem worse than it is, is the singing, and how they change the song in unexpected ways and sing different melodies. It make it unrelatable and sound wrong, not to mention they are singing off key and they play horribly.
I think, in regards to Tom's live singing voice, people need to remember that he fucked up his voice during the recording of the first Angels & Airwaves album, because he quit drugs cold turkey and blew out his voice screaming from withdrawals. And you can especially tell live that he's still never fully recovered from that.
(Also, Green Day's second guitarist is Jason White)
There is backing tracks but yes he is playing guitar. And adding interesting extras. Saw them in Manchester Uk, was a really fun night and Tom really wants to be in Blink. Much better than when I saw them in 2014.
Even when they hit a wrong note I love when mark corrects the note at the end for the “fans” watching the show
They sounded great when I saw them this year in Austin, as AVA did in ‘21 when I saw them. I liked the raw sound they had in that Denny’s video but for the big shows I think it’s just to give the fans a great show. And they did that. Can’t wait for the next tour.
Tom was definitely playing last tour. Saw them in Atlanta and at UBS. There is definitely another guitar on a track tho. A lot of songs have chords over lead riffs and tom cant really play them both at the same time
For what they are charging, he better not be miming!
I'm of the opinion that they make enough (and charge enough for tickets) that they should hire other musicians rather than use backing tracks.
I've watched a few live videos of them recently and Tom is definitely still playing guitar. From what I can tell the backing tracks seem to like over dub lead tracks while he plays the main rhythm stuff
When it comes to live performances there are many musicians that play versions of their songs that are slightly different from the studio recordings. I totally get that but sometimes I really wonder how Tom breaks down his play live. For example when they play Dance Withe Me he doesn't even really move his left hand up and down the fretboard while playing the chords of the verse and stuff like that
tom is still playing guitar on the live shows, but there's a few guitar tracks here and there.
Love your blink discussions man !! Did you think it was strange that Tom and Marks amps were no where on stage for this last tour?
I’ve seen a lot of videos where he would miss the pick slide which honestly sucks to see.
I think most of the “backing tracks” are really just the background rhythm parts that Tom can’t physically play while he’s doing more of the lead/ melody parts. I don’t think they’re running backing tracks for the exact parts he’s playing. At least they weren’t when I saw them back in the summer.
There's this really annoying blink fan account on insta that post live clips. But the problem is that they overlay board audio from their first Coachella performance on them. So when the video isn't matching up, people accuse Tom of miming. I can assure you, he's not. There are tracks but the bulk of the guitar and vocal sound is completely live. They do however use Auto-Tune in real-time now, but so does every almost every big artist nowadays.
Saw them last month. Tom is playing lead guitar. The backin tracks are just for a few rythm parts when the songs have 2 guitars, and for piano and synth parts of course…
Blink is not using backing tracks as in pop star backing tracks. Theyre playing their oarts but the other tracks aside from the main guitar are tracks. Hes definitely gotten better at playing guitar and singing this time around. Also wime of these videos are dovtored. Theres this one channel that posts these videos of the current tour but replaces its audio woth the album audio which is strange. Don't trust those videos.
I think they should have a second guitar player live. Some no name hired pro guy playing in the back corner of the stage. I mean All time low has one too and they even have Alex and Jack playing. Just gives them the freedom to do crazy jumps and such on stage without the performance suffering.
It’s not the backing tracks that bother me. It’s the ridiculous amount of autotune they are using on the vocals because they’re catering to the newer, younger crowd who are accustomed to hearing things that sound perfect and are solely created by a computer. I feel like half of the crowd are kids who found them on TikTok, or discovered them, because Travis is married to a Kardashian. It’s all very social media-based with them now, more so than it’s ever been. It kind of ruins it for me. Also, unfortunately, every song on this album has at least two outside songwriters that have written for five seconds of summer and Maroon 5. It’s no longer Mark, Tom and Travis
Tom and Mark have been sloppy live since I saw them in 1998 to today.
There's other stuff to consider too. There's anxiety, there's repetitive use injuries that can happen too from bending over and playing a guitar for 2 hours a night for months on end. There's a physical strain to performing and touring.
For playing live, I've always wondered why blink didn't add a second guitarist for live shows. Of course of you have it digitally? Why not…
I had made that comment, thank you for doing this video. You had a very fair take and I’ve wondered for a while what you thought about this. I feel like some of the songs he plays on and others he mines entirely. I saw him in Chicago and pretty close up in Detroit. I’ve also seen some videos as well like dysentery Gary that seems like he’s way off from what you’re hearing. Kind of a bummer but it is what it is
I like how this started as a defense of Tom but ended up trash talking him as a bad guitarist and lazy 😂
I agree though, I saw them live, there are more guitars coming out of the speakers than there are guitars on stage. Still a fabulous show.
Have you not seen them live this year? Kinda surprising.
seen him live pre and post 'backing tracks', so during the first period of the untitled record(so before the hiatus), it seems they just went at it the 3 of them and I thought it sounded cool, but since for songs like I Miss You and Always, they use backing tracks for the synths and stuff(and I think they use a click now in general no matter the song)
As for the most recent blink touring, I think his guitar tech does the tones changes for him for the most part, he does have a controller on stage with him but he seems to not use it like he did before
Tom
Was playing. He plays when does the reckless abandon story thing and he’s been playing the top gun solo in between songs.
Blink were always know as a a pretty terrible live band sound wise but that never took the fun away from there shows, I'm massively happy there using some backing tracks and auto tune vocals, I saw them at the o2 london and they sounded phenomenal , Tom definitely plays a bit …how much I don't no
With how long they've been doing this and what their ticket prices are, there really is no excuse for sloppy performances and backing tracks
As long as they sound great live, im all for anything. However, i have seen some videos live that suggest imo Tom is miming the guitar. Sometimes his pick slides don't line up or his strumming patterns seem off. I'd hope this isnt the case and these videos just get compressed from being posted on platforms causing audio video issues, otherwise I'd be fairly disappointed.
People crying about them using backing tracks is the biggest overreaction and an actual weirdo critique. If the instruments were unplugged and they were lip syncing. That’s an issue.
I saw them in Manchester and it was the best I'd ever seen them sound, they were tight, played really well and put on a great show. There was a rawness to it cuz they were still very much playing, the backing tracks were more just to fill out the sound and honestly I don't mind it, it works and they don't need to have other players on stage with them, sure Green Day have that but blink has always been best as a trio and should really be left like that
I saw them live in Seattle. Tom's guitar tone does change automatically. Perhaps MIDI programmed in or someone behind the stage doing the switching. I think it makes the show sound better but does take something away from watching him perform.
They suck live, but what makes it seem worse than it is, is the singing, and how they change the song in unexpected ways and sing different melodies. It make it unrelatable and sound wrong, not to mention they are singing off key and they play horribly.