Blink-182 brought “The Rock Show” to the stage on Friday night at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The Sahara tent is often the place to be at this festival for top-tier rap and electronic dance music artists, but Blink-182 took the stage.
Coachella 2023
It wouldn’t be a Blink-182 gig without some racy humor, which is why the band started off its first show together in nine years with the brief song “Family Reunion,” which is loaded with a variety of colorful language. The performance proceeded with songs from the trio’s album “Take Off Your Pants and Jacket,” released in 2001, including “Anthem Part II,” “The Rock Show,” and “Stay Together For The Kids.”
Mark Hoppus, the band’s bassist, greeted the audience with “Hello, we’re Blink-182, and there’s Tom!” about the band’s frontman Tom DeLonge, who rejoined the lineup just in October.
A reference was made by DeLonge to an event that occurred in February in which the spiritual head of the Tibetan Buddhist community kissed a young Indian kid on the lips and urged him to suck his tongue at the “Dalai Lama Kissing Booth.” DeLonge warned the crowd that had already reached capacity to stay away from the “Dalai Lama Kissing Booth” and characterized it as “F*cking gnarly.”
Nevertheless, a portion of the audience started to disperse after DeLonge went on a rampage that culminated in the phrase “f*** cancellation.” It is difficult to determine whether the rowdy comedy of the group was too much for the audience to handle or whether they wanted to hear a few singles from the band’s discography before moving on to another act at the event.
At one point, Hoppus handed Travis Barker a microphone and instructed him to say something into it. Barker obliged. Hoppus joked that Barker doesn’t typically talk and that he wouldn’t even do it when the band played the Reading Festival in England. Barker leaned forward and said “Hello, Coachella,” and Hoppus replied that he doesn’t usually speak.
Just as the audience was beginning to believe that Blink’s performance was drawing to a close, bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus announced, “We were meant to end… However, we have three more songs that we are going to play.”
In October 2018, Blink-182 announced that they will be reforming the band. The reunion was scheduled to begin in March in Tijuana, Mexico; however, Travis Barker broke two fingers and needed surgery.
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After bassist Hoppus released a playlist to his Apple Music account titled “Coachella” comprising the group’s songs and fan favorites on Monday, rumors began to swirl that the Poway pop-punk band would play the festival. After the festival revealed the set times late Wednesday night, Blink-182’s social media pages did not provide any additional hints or indications about their performance.
The band’s 6:45 p.m. set at Coachella, which is notorious for its many surprises throughout both weekends, stands out. This will be the second year in a row that a special guest has been added to the program just days — or perhaps just 24 hours — before the event takes place. Friday’s set will take place in the Sahara tent. Arcade Fire was scheduled to play a concert in the Mojave tent during Weekend 1 of the festival in 2022, and the festival made the announcement the day before Weekend 1 began.
Even though Blink-182’s performance in the Sahara tent was an outstanding improvement to the festival, it would have been more enjoyable for the beyond-capacity crowd that crowded into the terrace with limited views if the concert had been staged at the Coachella Stage or Outdoor Theatre substitute of the Sahara tent. This is because the crowd would have been able to get a better perspective of the stage.
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FAQ
Where will the Coachella be held in 2023?
In April 2023, Coachella will take place at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, over two weekends.