This year has brought so much good Blink-182 news that it could leave any fan wondering, “What’s my age again?” But by far the greatest announcement of the year came in September when Mark Hoppus revealed that, after a brutal battle with 4-A diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, he was finally cancer free. Hoppus celebrated his first post-cancer show with a Halloween spooktacular for Travis Barker’s House of Horrors, as the two old friends powered through hits from their Blink-182 heyday.
Barker is having a pretty good year himself, having recently got engaged to Kourtney Kardashian, while his production skills and mentorship have helped lead pop punk back onto the charts. But in a pre-show interview, he put all the focus on Hoppus beating cancer. “That’s the biggest, the best news all year,” he said. “That’s my brother. Mark doing this and us playing a few songs is just incredible. I’ve been with him through this process and he’s just been strong, and resilient, and tough. I just told him, ‘Elbows up and fight. It’s time to fight.’ And he did. It’s awesome.”
With Matt Skiba on tour with Alkaline Trio, the pair were joined by Escape the Fate’s Kevin “Thrasher” Gruft for a set of Blink-182 hits. Hoppus took center stage in a Batman costume, Barker attacked the kit as a demented Frankenstein’s monster, and Gruft sang backup vocals in what may have been a space suit inspired by the game Among Us. They opened with “What’s My Age Again?”, segued into “The Rock Show,” and closed on the giddy release of “Family Reunion.” Check out the performance below.
