Following a couple of Coachella appearances, blink-182
kicked off their highly-anticipated headline tour in St. Paul, Minnesota last
night (May 4) and they delivered some amazing setlist surprises.
At the Xcel Energy Center, the pop-punk legends unleashed a
mammoth, career-spanning 25-song setlist, opening with Anthem Part Two and
finishing up with Dammit. And as well as a couple of Neighborhoods bangers (Ghost On The
Dance Floor and Up All Night) for the first time in many years, the biggest
shock – and delight – came with the airing of two Matt Skiba-era blink
songs, sung of course by returning frontman Tom DeLonge.
Happily, things seem to have been left on pretty good terms with Tom rejoining blink last year, with the frontman thanking Matt for “all that you have done to keep the band alive and thriving in my absence”. The Alkaline Trio hero then responded a few days later saying that he was “truly grateful for my time with blink and I am truly happy you guys are a band and a family again”.
Check out fan-shot footage of Cynical and Bored To Death
– from excellent 2016 album California – below: