A planned European leg of the tour was postponed following the
September 11 attacks, and cancelled when guitarist
Tom DeLonge suffered a back injury.[1]
Background
The band partnered with
Ticketmaster, setting up a special website where fans could purchase pre-sale tickets for each show.[2]
Reception towards the Take Off Your Pants and Jacket Tour was generally positive.
Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times was positive in his review of the band's concert at the
Tweeter Center, writing, "There is a long and noble tradition in
rock 'n' roll of hyperenergetic, ultramelodic, sha-la-la-la stupidity, and Blink has proven itself to be a worthy inheritor of this tradition—not as great as the mighty
Ramones just yet, but at least as good as
the Troggs or
the Archies or
Grand Funk Railroad."[5] The band's appearance at
Radio 104 Fest in
Hartford, Connecticut was reviewed by Roger Catlin of the Hartford Courant: "Blink-182 [...] has earned its place at the top. Both bassist Mark Hoppus and guitarist Tom DeLonge are tighter now from working with ace drummer Travis Barker for a few years. The show's focus is more their bracing, melodic songs rather than the childishly vulgar banter between them."[4]
Ed Masley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called the trio "the
Steely Dan of cartoon punk", feeling that "the [dirty] jokes were nearly overshadowed by musical highlights [...] Some, I'm sure, would argue that the show was worse than reprehensible. But unlike, say,
Limp Bizkit,
Korn or
Eminem, these clowns did it all for the giggles. At a time when so much of teen culture is focused on hate and aggression, last night's show was practically refreshing."[6] Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times felt the concert tasteful in light of the then-recent
September 11 attacks; "In some strange way Blink-182's concert Sunday at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim provided a kind of catharsis, or at least temporary escape, for the thousands of fans who turned out." He praised the group's inclusion of humor, while also comparing drummer
Travis Barker to
Keith Moon of
The Who.[3]