3,000 people cheer and clap as the lights go down and the 3 members of Blink-182 walk off the stage. A few minutes go by and things start to quiet down, while people stop clapping to turn to their neighbors and yell “But Mark said it wasn’t going to be their last song!” or “Why are they putting that big black curtain up?” and of course, “No seriously it’s not over right?”
Slowly this roars back to life as at least a third of these people begin chanting “ONE MORE SONG!” A dull roar grows as people begin banging on the chairs in front of them, threatening a riot to rival the one Axl Rose started in St. Louis in 1991 when he walked off the stage too early in the night. Somewhere near by a security guard yells “Put the traffic cone down! Now!”
The rumbling slows once again as people begin holding up lighters and cell phones, as if hoping to use these to guide their favorite band back on stage. It doesn’t seem to matter to the people on the lawn that it has been pouring for at least 20 minutes now. They start chanting again, and the wave of sound rushes down from the lawn all the way to the pit, with people screaming, pleading for Blink-182 to get back on the stage.
Finally the curtain drops and everyone, even the manliest of men in the audience, screams at the top of their lungs. Travis Barker is alone on stage playing a drum solo while the platform he sits on is MOVING! Not only that but after about 30 seconds of it moving straight forward, it lifts 30 feet into the air and tilts to a 45 degree angle. After everyone’s initial reaction of clapping so hard their hands have fallen off, the crowd is breathless- the platform is now swinging to stage right, and SPINNING all while Travis continues his ridiculous drum solo.
Most people here are just in awe that the one member of the band to have been in a plane crash (landing, as DeLillo would put it since he lived) is the one who is currently playing his instrument while hanging from the ceiling. No one can do anything but clap even harder once he is safely back on the ground. There is a communal sigh of relief when they unstrap Travis’s harness and Mark and Tom walk out to finish the show.
Leaving the ampitheater, there is an excited buzz as people gush about how amazing the show was. Outside it’s easier to hear what other people are saying, and most are desperately trying to remember where their car was parked. Security guards are watching for drunk people, directing traffic and generally trying to keep the peace.