Coachella 2023: Blink-182 rocks the Sahara tent, warns of 'Dalai Lama kissing booth'

The Sahara tent at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is usually the event's go-to spot for top-knotch rap and EDM acts, but Blink-182 brought "The Rock Show" to the stage on Friday night.

It's not a Blink-182 show without raunchy humor, which is why the band kicked off its first show together in nine years with the expletive-filled short song "Family Reunion." The band continued with "Anthem Part II" and "The Rock Show" from the trio's 2001 album "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket."

Bassist Mark Hoppus said "Hello, we're Blink-182, and there's Tom!" pointing over to frontman Tom DeLonge, who rejoined the band in October.

DeLonge warned the beyond capacity crowd to stay away from the "Dalai Lama Kissing Booth" and described it as "F*cking gnarly," a reference to a February incident where the spiritual head of the Tibetan Buddhist community kissed a young Indian boy on the lips and asked him to suck his tongue.

However, some of the crowd began to leave after DeLonge went on a rant that ended with "f*** cancellation." It's hard to say whether the group's raunchy humor was too much to take, or if they wanted to hear a few nostalgic hits before moving on to another set at the festival.

At one point, Hoppus took a microphone to Travis Barker and asked him to say something. Barker leaned forward and said "Hello, Coachella" and Hoppus quipped he doesn't usually speak and wouldn't even do that when the band played the Reading Festival in England.

Just when people thought Blink's set was coming to a close, bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus said “We were supposed to end … but we’re going to play three more songs.”

Blink-182 announced a reunion last October, which was supposed to start in March in Tijuana, Mexico, but Barker injured two fingers and required surgery.

Rumors began to circulate on Monday that the Poway pop-punk band would play the festival after bassist Hoppus posted a playlist titled "Coachella" to his Apple Music account featuring the group's hits and fan favorites. Blink-182's social media accounts didn't offer any other clues until after the festival released set times late Wednesday night.

Coachella is known for many surprises during both weekends, but the band's 6:45 p.m. Friday set in the Sahara tent marks the second year in a row that a special guest has been added to the lineup just days — or just 24 hours — before the event. In 2022, the festival announced the day before Weekend 1 that Arcade Fire would perform a Friday evening set in the Mojave tent.

Even though Blink-182's performance in the Sahara tent was a welcome addition to the festival, it would have been a better experience at the Coachella Stage or Outdoor Theatre for the beyond-capacity crowd that packed into the terrace with limited views.

Correction: A previous version of this story said the band performed "Stay Together For The Kids" and has been corrected.

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @bblueskye.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella 2023: Blink-182 rocks out, makes 'Dalai Lama kissing booth' joke