Reunited Classic Blink-182 Lineup Last-Minute Addition to 2023 Coachella
Written by djfrosty on April 13, 2023
After postponing a planned reunion tour due to drummer Travis Barker‘s finger injuries, the reunited classic line-up of Blink-182 will debut on Friday (April 14) on the first night of this year’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. The schedule for this year’s fest was revealed on the event’s Instagram on Thursday morning (April 13) with the caption “Take off your pants and jacket,” which is, of course, a reference to the cheeky title of Blink’s 2001 fourth album of the same name.
The group fronted by singer/bassist Mark Hoppus and returning member guitarist/singer Tom DeLonge is slated to take the Sahara stage for a 6:45 dinnertime slot, sandwiched between Vintage Culture and followed by Jamie Jones on the stage that will be closed out that night by Metro Boomin’.
The slot is the first show by the reunited lineup since they announced they were welcoming DeLonge back into the fold for a third time after the Angels & Airwaves leader split the band in 2015; he had also previously left the group in 2005, before returning in 2009 and then leaving again six years later.
Blink had plotted a South American swing to mark their get-back with DeLonge, which was slated to kick off on March 11 in Tijuana, Mexico. But Barker injured his ring finger twice in two months, requiring surgery that pushed back their return.
Barker first injured the finger on Feb. 7 during rehearsals for the pop-punk trio’s tour. “I was playing the drums at rehearsals yesterday and I smashed my finger so hard I dislocated it and tore the ligaments,” Barker tweeted on Feb. 8. Then, on Feb. 20, Barker shared an Instagram Story in which he showed off his swollen, bruised knuckle, captioning the image “again.”
Hoppus, Barker and DeLonge announced in October that they were reuniting the band’s classic lineup for the 2023-24 world tour and then released the new single “Edging” late last year. On Christmas Eve, DeLonge teased that the trio were working on “the best album we’ve ever made.”
Friday night’s Coachella lineup will also feature the Chemical Brothers, Kaytranada, Burna Boy, Gorillaz and Bad Bunny and another last-minute addition, British singer/songwriter James Blake, who will play the Do Lab stage at 8:30 p.m.
Check out the Friday night Coachella lineup below.