Blink-182’s Coachella Sunday Headline Performance Proved Pop Punk is ALIVE And Thriving!

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Paul 'Browny' Brown

blink 182 coachella headline show sunday

It was only last weekend when blink-182′s GOAT lineup made the historical comeback fans had been waiting 8.5 years for when Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker took to the stage at Coachella for a performance that was heard, seen and felt around the world… now, they’ve just wrapped up their headline slot at the second weekend (following Frank Ocean‘s cancellation earlier in the week) and this is what went down…

Entering to thunderous applause again, the band followed a similar setlist to last weekend with ‘Family Reunion’, ‘Anthem P1. 2‘ and ‘The Rock Show‘ leading the charge with our first joke; Tom referring to something burning (as the flames went up around them), he said it was his guitar playing before Mark commented about how lucky he was not to have pubes anymore, or they’d be burnt off. ‘Man Overboard’ was next with Mark asking the Coachella crowd how many of them had done illegal drugs this weekend – to which the punters erupted into applause – before Tom chimed in calling them stupid with all the cameras watching them right now and that he’d dob them in for their illegal activity. Travis kicked off ‘Feeling This’ with what appeared to be only a handful of rowdy fans jumping about in the crowd.

‘Reckless Abandon’ with alternate lyrics of ‘We’ll use this song / to fuck your mom’ pumped up the tempo with Barker flailing about like Animal from TheMuppets, while ‘What’s My Age Again‘ found Mark using the instrumental stop-down section to talk about the hellish past 5 years, including finding out he had cancer 2 years ago – stating music brings us all together – and that’s why they’re here – to unite the world with their comeback. ‘Dumpweed’ was next with Tom declaring that their songs are nursery rhymes on meth – not that he’s done that (talking about nursery rhymes) and new era song ‘Edging’ was given it’s second live performance, with ‘Aliens Exist’ right behind it, climaxing with Tom belting out ‘I Have Sex With Guyssss’.

Mark spoke about this next part of the show being the sad, emo section of the night, and for all the fans to part their hair over their eyes before launching into divorce anthem ‘Stay Together For The Kids‘ (for the first time live since 2018) – which came back into the setlist and it was as emotional as the first weekend. Tom’s roaring guitar riff of teenage angst filling the void in the process. Also new to the setlist was ‘Always’, continuing the emotional love-filled section of the show with DeLonge’s iconic twang in fine form for the duration (and getting the live treatment for the first time since 2017). The only thing that was missing was a Sophie Monk cameo, but hey, no one’s complaining here!

Mark then joked about his Viagra kicking in, while Tom insisted he lubricate his voice box, before dropping the gag and launching into ‘Down’, and once again Travis slayed the drums with speed and precision. ‘I Miss You’ yet again resulted in tears dropping from my face as the piano intro kicked in, knowing what was about to transpire. The ‘where are youuuuu’ part seemed a little less enthusiastic compared to last weekend’s set, but Tom’s vocals were on point for the delivery and the final part jam session showed that going off the road of what’s expected showcases the talent the band has, after all these years.

The Ramones’ ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ chorus of ‘hey ho, let’s go’ lead into ‘First Date’ bringing back the feels from Take Off Your Pants And Jacket-era, then the boys joked about Mark’s dick, with Tom stating he’d be able to describe it in a police sketch because he’s seen it so many times, before the opening riffs of ‘All The Small Things‘ took over with harmonising bridges throughout. ‘Dammit’ rounded out the set complete with fire machines galore but instead of pulling out the infamous ‘No Scrubs’ alternative lyrics again, Mark opted for Skee-Lo‘s ‘I Wish‘ during the stop down which worked perfectly to fill the gaps – although I highly doubt the zoomers in attendance knew WTF was going on.

The song closed with fireworks and Travis and co. throwing drumsticks into the crowd and once again, we were left with a sense of wholesomeness knowing our fav band has returned to dominate stages across the globe.

blink-182‘s world tour kicks off on May 4th before heading to Australia in February 2024… now the countdown begins!

Words by Paul ‘Browny’ Brown (@brownypaul)

Coachella 2023 Headline Setlist

Family Reunion
Anthem P1. 2
The Rock Show
Man Overboard
Feeling This
Reckless Abandon
What’s My Age Again
Dumpweed
Edging
Aliens Exist
Stay Together For The Kids
Happy Holidays, You Bastard
Always
Down
I Miss You
Blitzkrieg Bop (Cover)
First Date
All The Small Things
Dammit