Matt Skiba Blasts When We Were Young Festival

Matt Skiba has discussed Blink-182 reuniting with Tom DeLonge, new Alkaline Trio music, and the inaugural When We Were Young festival taking place next weekend in Las Vegas in a recent Vulture interview. Skiba didn't mince words about whatever the hell will happen on the day. 

Maybe emo music fans were rightfully sceptical when the line-up was revealed this January.

"You want to hear something? Whether I'm supposed to or not supposed to say anything, I guess, is immaterial. It makes the conversation more fun. But that festival - initially, they announced all those bands playing before anybody said yes," Skiba answered when asked about playing at the festival. Vulture has since reached out to representatives for the When We Were Young Festival for a response. 

Continuing, "It was a Fyre Festival kind of stunt that worked. And I only know that because my band was on that initial flyer, with every other band from our whole ilk. And they almost expertly started advertising it before they had a single band on the bill. And somehow, all the bands agreed to do it. I'm not making this up. Somebody may correct me, but I know that Alkaline Trio, we hadn't confirmed anything. And when we read that, we called other bands that were playing, and nobody knew about it." Is he telling the truth? Time will tell.

Either way, he's stoked about When We Were Young, reminiscing on the nostalgia of 2000s emo and pop-punk and enjoying its resurgence. 

"If that's an accident or a fluke, then it's like two particles of sand meeting each other in space. It had to have been planned. And they weren't wrong. Whoever did that, I'm not even mad. You took a shit in the fridge and ate the whole wheel of cheese? I'm not even mad. It's like, holy shit, dude. Congratulations to whoever masterminded that, the Lex Luther of promoters. And I think everybody, including us, is really pumped about it. It's going to be a great time."

Days ago, Tom DeLonge thanked Matt Skiba for keeping Blink-182 alive and thriving in his absence. The news that DeLonge had rejoined Blink-182 and that they're going on a humungous world tour as a trio is perhaps the most important music news of the year so far. The band will hit Australia in 2024.