Angels & Airwaves: Back from Space

Angels & Airwaves w/ The New Regime and Charming Liars
Showbox Sodo, Seattle, WA
09.28.19

After taking a seven-year break from touring to search for aliens, frontman Tom DeLonge and Angels and Airwaves hit the road on a full U.S tour. With the release of two new songs and the promise of a full album to come, Angels and Airwaves landed their spaceship at Seattle’s Showbox SoDo.

Playing in front of a sold-out crowd the entire Showbox SoDo went to space for a few hours as Angels and Airwaves transported everyone to another planet. Their futuristic, experimental, outer galactic inspired pop-rock music was like going to a concert in the future. The base of every song coming from unidentifiable noises, beats, and waves.

The night got off to an adrenaline-fueled start with “Surrender,” “Overload,” and “It Hurts,” three catchy songs with fast beats. Everyone was jumping as the beat fell at their feet. The lights flashed quickly matching the intensity of each song. Everything was heavily backlit creating silhouettes of the band like they were walking off a spaceship onto the moon.

DeLonge took a moment during the set to dedicate a song to the only thing on earth to ever give 100% real unconditional love…DOGS! Dedicating them the song “Wolfpack.”

In front of the barricade was a handful of kids under the age of ten. One had a sign wanting to hear a song from his former band, Blink-182. DeLonge apologized saying the band did not know how to play that song but sang 15 seconds from that song’s chorus to satisfy the request. The crowd cheered at just those few seconds.

While the full band did not play any full Blink-182 songs, DeLonge played three acoustic songs in the middle including “I Miss You” and “Aliens Exist” by Blink-182 and “There Is” by Boxcar Racer. Two of DeLonge’s former bands and side projects. While sharing stories from his past, how he got the inspiration to write music, and what music meant before he was in a band.

Over the nearly two hour concert, they played songs through every album, including many favorites like “Everything’s Magic,” “Anxiety,” and the song that got it all started, “The Adventure.” They also played their two new songs “Kiss & Tell” and “Rebel Girl,” that feel like early Angels and Airwaves. Well after midnight, the show ended with a sweet encore of the band playing “Do It For Me Now” and “Heaven.”

Seeing Angels and Airwaves back on tour playing their music live again, with a new album on the way, was the best way to see out the decade.

Photos by Logan Westom
Review by Allie Leaf

Angels & Airwaves