Blink-182 had a special surprise at their benefit concert for the Los Angeles wildfires on Thursday night – bringing out former band member Matt Skiba for a guest spot.
Skiba, whose band Alkaline Trio opened the show, replaced singer-guitarist Tom DeLonge in 2015 but then left Blink-182 in 2022 when DeLonge decided to rejoin the band.
Speculation was high that a collab could be on the cards once Alkaline Trio were announced as the support act for the show at the Hollywood Palladium, due to Skiba’s previous links to the band.
As Blink prepared to play “Bored to Death,” singer-bassist Mark Hoppus introduced a “contest winner” to join DeLonge and drummer Travis Barker on stage – and that turned out to be Skiba.
The song choice was a natural one – “Bored To Death” featured on Blink-182’s 2016 album ‘California’, which was one of two which Skiba contributed to.
According to a gig report from KTLA, the fundraising gig started with a bagpipe perfromance from a member of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Alkaline Trio’s set included hits including “Time To Waste” and “Radio”.
Blink 182 opened their set with “Feeling This” and “The Rock Show” – and delivered close to three hours of their trademark banter, jokes and hits whilst also giving numerous shout-outs to the firefighters who bravely fought the deadly fires which impacted Los Angeles last month.
4000 lucky fans got to enjoy the somewhat intimate show, with all proceeds from ticket sales going to Pasadena Humane, California Fire Foundation, Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and the ARC Firefighter Fund.
Blink’s fundraising show came after the star-studded FireAid concert in Los Angeles last month, which included appearances from Lady Gaga, Pink, Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers and a suprise Nirvana reunion.
The Palisades and Eaton Fires in January destroyed thousands of homes, killed at least 25 people and forced more than 150,000 residents to evacuate from their homes.
