A packed crowd in Indio, California awaited at the Sahara stage at Coachella for Blink 182's first show with Tom DeLonge on guitar since 2014.
DeLonge wore a black shirt with "To The Stars" Academy of Arts & Sciences shirt (his entertainment company) and a backwards sky blue hat. Hoppus wore a long-sleeve 7-Eleven PacMan shirt and rimmed glasses.
In the backstage video feed, DeLonge and Hoppus were shown commiserating. There was a roar from the crowd when drummer Travis Barker emerged on the video board, shirtless as usual and wearing a black beanie, warming up his arms for the show. He was lightly shadowboxing as the moment approached.
The theme from "2001: Space Odyssey" serenaded the trio to the stage. They emerged. DeLonge danced a hula-ish dance, and at the song's crescendo, he flipped off the crowd.
Hoppus played his signature pink fender bass. DeLonge played a Gibson hollow body guitar with stickers of his favorite bands: Fugazi, T.S.O.L., Descendants, Bad Religion.
They opened with "Family Reunion," a minute-long profane ode about a tryst with an unnamed mother. They then went into "Anthem Part 2," their opening track from the 2001 album Take Off Your Pants And Jacket. The opening lyrics were DeLonge's first singing solo of the night, and for that matter 9 years.
The harmony when they sang "never give up" was varied from the album version as they usually do at live shows.
Hoppus said, "Hi we're blink 182, welcome to Coachella 2023. So many UTI's are about to happen this weekend. Every single grocery store within ten miles, totally sold out of cranberry juice."
"Fingers in your butt ," DeLonge added.
Next, Hoppus took the lead with "The Rock Show," also a song from 2001. There were visualizations of the graphics from the album cover of Take Off Your Pants And Jacket. When the song completed, DeLonge immediately began his banter before Hoppus interrupted, pointed at him and said, "hey, there's Tom!."
DeLonge made a joke about kissing The Dalai Lama at a kissing booth.
Next, they played the single, "Man Overboard,"a single from their 2000 album "The Mark, Tom and Travis Show: The Enema Strikes Back," recorded at the now-demolished Gibson Amphitheater at Universal Studios in Hollywood and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. The visualizations of the video board behind them displayed photos of the band from that era.
After that song concluded, Hoppus turned and waved and said, "Hi Travis Barker! You wanna see something cool? Say hi to Coachella, Travis."
Hoppus approached Barker, who leaned forward from his drum set and said "Hi Coachella!"
DeLonge commented, "The man talked! He's got shit to say!" Barker rarely if ever speaks on microphone during live concerts.
"He didn't do that shit for Redding Festival over in the fu-king U.K. Only for SoCal!" Hoppus assured the crowd.
"Yeah, fu-k them!" DeLonge said. Hoppus kept the show going.
"Here's a music," Hoppus said.
"I forgot how it goes," DeLonge quipped. "Just joking, fu-k you, you can't do what we do."
DeLonge switched guitars to another white Gibson hollow body with a smiley face and tiger stickers on it.
Barker began the intro to the first single from their 2003 self-titled album, "Feeling This." Like the album, this song showcased Barker's talents as a drummer more than the others.
In the second verse, DeLonge screamed his solo (with just Travis drumming) "Fate fell—" before letting the crowd continue, "—short this time, smile fades in the summer."
The outro of "Feeling This" featured a slightly altered drum beat from Barker. More to be expected.
Hoppus then picked up a teal Fender bass and began the next batch of mid-song banter.
"I want to tell you something about myself," Hoppus said.
"Herpes!" DeLonge interrupted.
"I like to eat it from the back," Hoppus said. An audible groan came from the crowd. "Otherwise those those fu-kin' balls get in the way. Get those fu-kin' balls out of the way, I got work to do."
"What are balls even for?" DeLonge said. "I want to talk about the vas defrans. What is the vas defrans between the testicles? I think there's rules against this shit. There's a lot of shit we should have been canceled for. We say fu-k you, cancellation. Punk rock show."
"How about you just don't be a dick? It's that easy,"Hoppus said.
"You are what you eat," DeLonge added. He then began playing "Reckless Abandon." Instead of singing "We used this song to lead you on," he said "we used this song to fu-k your mom."
The visualizations behind them displayed the lyrics, totally synced with the band's vocals.
DeLonge played a slightly matured guitar solo before the final chorus.
"Hey have a great time this weekend!" Hoppus said. "Watch out for your friends. Don't leave your friends behind. Look out for one another. I want everyone going home safe—"
"—and pregnant," DeLonge interrupted.
"Pregnant if you want, I don't know," Hoppus said. "There's an issue."
"This fu-kin song is hard to play and I just think I need some admiration," DeLonge said, taking a swig from a caffeinated soda.
"Give Tom some encouragement, he needs your applause," Hoppus implored upon the crowd.
They then jumped into "Dysentery Gary" from the 1999 album Enema of the State—which was their first full album with Barker after the original drummer Scott Raynor was dismissed. When the song finished, DeLonge said "I give myself a C."
DeLonge switched to a third guitar, this time with a self-titled era smiley face sticker...and a Gorilla Biscuits sticker on it.
After some banter about poetry, they played "What's My Age Again," also from Enema of the State. They wrapped the song with a comical operatic recitation of the title.
DeLonge took another swig of this soda and said, "I was thinking—and you don't want that, generally you don't want that. What are you guys going to do tonight? Oh we're going to play a song? Answer me after this song, fu-kers."
Blink 182 then played their first single as a re-formed band, "Edging." Hoppus was now playing a black and white bass.
"I don't know what to do up here!" DeLonge said. "Are you guys properly hydrated? Mark?" As Barker played a short between song beat, Hoppus danced as DeLonge stared. "If you ever did that inside someone, they'd be so pissed."
"I'm properly hydrated because your mom is so wet," Hoppus responded. They then clarified who and what they were talking about for a beat.
"Labias majora AND minora," DeLonge said.
"If you're into astrology," Hoppus added.
"Labia minora sounds like a religious artifact or something," said DeLonge.
"Let's go," Hoppus interrupted.
DeLonge slid his pick down the guitar neck to start the song "Dumpweed," the opening song from Enema of the State. Fire blazed from cauldrons on the flanks of the stage.
After the song, DeLonge said to his long-haired bearded guitar tech, "Give me my fu-king guitar! Stop taking my guitar. Who are you? Does he work here? That's Jesus Christ."
"Happy birthday last weekend," Hoppus added.
Blink 182 then played "Aliens Exist" from Enema of the State. During the song, DeLonge sang, "we all know conspiracies are dumb" and then in time, added "NO THEY'RE NOT." On the video board, there was an animation of their Loserkid Bunny logo aboard a flying saucer.
After "Aliens Exist," Hoppus said, "Somebody call the cops, I smelled weed on that song. You're a big giant disappointment to your parents, pot smokers."
"Did you guys ever played around with your dad in the bath?" DeLonge giggled into the microphone. This guy knows what I'm talking about."
"Jesus, the dad bather," Hoppus said.
Barker then started playing the drum intro to "Hey Ho, Let's Go" by The Ramones. DeLonge led the crowd in the lyrics. The song then morphed into "First Date" from Take Off Your Pants And Jacket.
"I'm going to sing this next song, and in the middle of it, there's a fu-kin' bass solo," Hoppus said.
"We like bass solos, we don't get enough of those!" DeLonge said. "You're gonna slap some shit."
Blink 182 then played "Don't Leave Me" from Enema of the State. On the video board behind them, there was an animation of a home with the siluhettes of a man and women arguing in the window.
DeLonge made another Dali Lama kissing joke. He digressed and said, "I don't know what to say, I'm gonna start a song." He then started the guitar intro to "Down" from the self-titled album. DeLonge played an extended outro solo.
"Just because it's Christmas," DeLonge said. They immediately jumped into the song "Happy Holidays, You Bastard" from Take Off Your Pants And Jacket.
DeLonge then made some quips about fingers in tents. Blink 182 then began to play "I Miss You" from the self-titled album. An audible cheer emerged from the crowd.
DeLonge's exaggerated SoCal-accented vocals on the studio version of "I Miss You" have become a bit of a social media meme, especially the part where he sings "where are you? And I'm so sorry..."
When the moment came, Hoppus said, "sing it!" Barker did a drum fill on the toms before all three of them stopped playing. DeLonge continued acapella, with his signature "where are you" section along with the crowd. Barker did a roll of the snare after the first line and the guitars continued. The song ended with DeLonge doing some extended strumming (masquerading as solos).
"Not to brag, but you might recognize this next song from the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie," Hoppus said. Blink 182 then played "All The Small Things" from the Enema of the State album. Up until this point, this song had the largest percentage of the crowd singing along with the chorus.
DeLonge then started the intro to "Dammit" from the 1997 album "Dude Ranch." Barker beat the snare during the verse with a windmill-motion of his left arm. He's one of the best drummers in the world, but even as he played four-chord punk music, he makes it look like he's still having fun. During the bridge of the song, Hoppus sang the chorus to the 1999 TLC song "No Scrubs." It's in perfect time to fit in the bridge of "Dammit." In the past, Hoppus has also sang the opening lyrics of Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" at this part. The brief cover crescendoed into the final chorus of "Well I guess this is growing up" as small fireworks sparks emanated from the stage.
Immediately after Blink 182, left the stage, the house speakers began to play TLC's "No Scrubs."
They looked and sounded like they did in 2001, and that's a good thing.