After touring and releasing the band's sixth album Neighborhoods, it became difficult for Blink-182 to record new material, due to guitarist Tom DeLonge's various projects. After disagreements, the remaining members of the group—vocalist/bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker—sought separation from DeLonge and recruited guitarist Matt Skiba, best known as the frontman of rock bandAlkaline Trio, in his place. Blink-182 performed two club shows and a slot at the Musink Tattoo Convention & Music Festival in March 2015 with Skiba "filling in" for DeLonge. Afterwards, they regrouped and recorded the albumCalifornia with producer John Feldmann. Following the band's first performances with Skiba in 2015, Barker alluded to a potential tour with A Day to Remember, who supported the band on its three initial shows with Skiba in 2015. The tour was first announced on April 28, 2016 on Los Angeles radio station KROQ's Kevin and Bean. After the North American leg was completed, the group played some small shows in Europe, before returning to the States for festival dates in December. Following one-off shows and appearances in early 2017, the band will again tour the U.S. with support acts the Naked and Famous and Wavves. A large European tour commenced in mid-2017.
Set list
Stats updated as of September 14, 2016. Main set
"Feeling This"
"What's My Age Again?"
"Family Reunion"
"The Rock Show"
"Cynical"
"First Date"
"Down"
"I Miss You"
"Bored to Death"
"Built This Pool"
"Wishing Well"
"Dumpweed"
"Don't Leave Me"
"Always"
"Reckless Abandon" "Up All Night" "Man Overboard" "San Diego" "Stay Together for the Kids"
"Stay Together for the Kids"
"Reckless Abandon"
"No Future"
"The Only Thing That Matters" "San Diego" "Stay Together for the Kids" "She's Out of Her Mind"
"Man Overboard"
"Not Now"
"Violence"
"Dysentery Gary"
"Wendy Clear" "Kings of the Weekend" "Don't Leave Me" "Josie" "Man Overboard" "M+M's" "Sober"
"Happy Holidays, You Bastard"
"Man Overboard" "Dysentery Gary"
"Kings of the Weekend"
"M+M's" "Happy Holidays, You Bastard" "Dysentery Gary"
"Carousel"
"Los Angeles" Encore
"Los Angeles"
"Carousel"
"All the Small Things"
"Brohemian Rhapsody"
"Dammit"
Notes
"Blow Job" was performed after "Built This Pool" on July 31 and August 3, after "The Only Thing That Matters" on July 29, and after "Los Angeles" on August 5, August 6, and August 10. Performances of the song included the band swapping instruments.
On August 2 after the band played "Los Angeles", Killer Mike was invited to perform a freestyle rap with the band on stage.
On August 6 and August 8, Mark Hoppus performed a drum solo after "Dammit" to close the show.
On September 2 in Hartford and September 4 in Saratoga Springs, Travis Barker's son Landon performed a drum solo after "Dammit" to close the show.
On September 20 in Ridgefield, John Feldmann joined the band to sing "Brohemian Rhapsody".
Shows on the California tour were received positively. The Houston Chronicle Joey Guerra considered it "one of the tightest shows this season." Dave Simpson of The Guardian called it a "slick, professional rock show complete with ticker tape, pyrotechnics and lots of hits." Many reviewers contrasted Skiba with DeLonge; "Skiba barely says a word," noted The Guardian. David Greenwald from the Oregonian felt the show was missing DeLonge's "wonderfully whiny voice the easy camaraderie he and Hoppus once shared." The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Scott Mervis wrote that "there was clearly something missing from the Blink experience. Every major band has its thing, and Blink's is being the whiny pop-punk trio with the obnoxious, profane interplay." "The new Blink feels like a whole new band altogether – not definitively better, not definitively worse, but definitively not the same," wrote Jay Cridlin of the Tampa Bay Times. A couple reviewers considered Skiba an improvement. Case Keefer of the Las Vegas Sun wrote that "the live show was noticeably improved with Skiba's soothing voice and raging effort." Many praised Barker's drumming ability; "a truly dizzying drummer and an otherwise silent enigma," Greenwald wrote, while Simpson dubbed him "the glue holding everything together a joy to watch." Among the more negative reviews came from Kevin Williams at the Chicago Tribune, who reviewed the band's Lollapalooza set. Williams commented that "This by-the-numbers set can make an eloquent argument that old punkers should just fade away... feel like a tribute band."
