Opening for Blink 182 and playing to 20,000 people plus every night sounds like an ideal spot for most bands. Ask Matt Skiba and the guys from Alkaline Trio what it was like. They will tell you that Blink 182 was great, but most of their fans were using the Alkaline Trio slot as a time to re-fill their Pepsi and pretzels.
So goes the way of arena punk rock. Which could be another reason why Matt and the rest of Alkaline Trio like doing smaller tours. Plus getting behind such a great cause such as Plea for Peace/Take Action Tour. Not only because of their close ties with Mike Park, one of the organizers, but because they can relate to the cause on a personal basis.
Judging from their dark lyrical subject matter and record covers, you would think that Alkaline Trio was Satanists. On the contrary. The reason for their good luck is that they have worked extremely hard and write sincere songs from the heart. Not that Satanists donâ t write sincere songs. Just listening to Slayerâ s â Reign in Bloodâ can tickle the heart.
Matt talks with Music4autobahns about their tour with Blink 182 and why independent music means so much to him.