Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge: Matt Skiba Slight? Former Guitarist Replies To Fan’s Comment
Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge has responded online to fan criticism of new Blink guitarist Matt Skiba. Was former Blink co-frontman Tom complicit in the Blink-ophile’s apparent put-down of current singer Skiba? Some fans are taking the exchange between DeLonge and the commenter as Tom’s subconscious snub of the former Alkaline Trio musician and present-day Blink replacement. Check out DeLonge’s reply to the fan’s comment below.
On Sunday, Alternative Nation pointed out the Instagram conversation between Tom and a Blink-182 devotee. As evidenced by the fan’s remark, the Blink supporter seems to feel strongly about DeLonge’s absence from the group. He reportedly thinks that Blink’s stage presence is suffering without Tom’s personality.
The dialogue between Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge and the fan began with the supporter’s critique of a recent Blink concert. On Tom’s Instagram post advertising new merchandise from his To the Stars company, the Blink buff made note of Skiba’s performance as lacking in enthusiasm while pining for DeLonge’s onstage charisma.
The fan continued his comment to Tom by requesting the return of DeLonge’s latter-day rock band, Angels & Airwaves, and praising the era of that act’s 2007 album, I-Empire. The fan’s full comment can be read at the above Tom DeLonge Instagram post or the referenced and linked Alternative Nation article.
Tom followed up with a simple but loaded reply. Responding to the fan directly, DeLonge thanked the Instagram user for kind words and then offered what some are taking as a veiled concurrence of the alleged jab at Skiba.
“Thank you for your amazing and kind words… I hear you loud and clear.”
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Tom DeLonge quit Blink-182 and was replaced by Matt Skiba last year. The member swap followed a heated period of legal back-and-forth between DeLonge and his bygone Blink bandmates, drummer Travis Barker and bassist-vocalist Mark Hoppus. Barker and Hoppus recruited Skiba following Tom’s exit, citing DeLonge’s refusal to commit to upcoming touring and recording schedules.
In regard to the widely-covered split, Tom insists he is merely taking a break from the band as he devotes his time to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Telling Mic that he was unable to divide his efforts for Blink and his current alien search, DeLonge recounted Blink’s early touring days when he would bury his head in books on UFOs:
“I first got into it in junior high. I don’t know why. I just had some free time on my hands and I found myself at the school library looking for books on the subject matter. [In] the beginnings of my career with [Blink-182], you have a lot of free time in the van, traveling across the country for 12 months, so I found myself getting a lot of really interesting books that challenged the way I thought about stuff.”
Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge continues his search for aliens while promoting his To the Stars concern. DeLonge is also the subject of a new 90-minute episode of Ernie Ball: The Pursuit of Tone. The show will air at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, August 19, on DirecTV’s Audience Music channel.
What do you think of Tom DeLonge’s recent fan reply on Instagram? Do you think Tom will ever reunite with his Blink bandmates, Mark and Travis? Is Skiba a suitable replacement for DeLonge in the band? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
[Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images]
