Blink-182 and Pac-Man to team at Comic-Com, where Pearl Jam's Mike McCready will also appear
Published in Entertainment News
SAN DIEGO — Pearl Jam and Blink-182 are not currently scheduled to perform at the 2026 edition of San Diego Comic-Con, but both bands will be well-represented next week at this year’s convention.
The Poway-bred pop-punk band blink-182 has announced a new partnership with Pac-Man at Comic-Con that is timed to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the band’s landmark 2001 album, “Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.”
Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, a former Del Mar resident, will be on hand at Comic-Con for the debut of his new graphic novel and “lost” rock opera, “Farewell To Seasons.”
The Blink-182/Pac-Man booth (#1415) will host a retro arcade with co-branded arcade cabinets, as-yet-unspecified Blink-182 prizes, and a claw machine filled with Pac-Man plushes. The three-man band will make what is being billed as an animated “appearance,” presumably in Pac-Man form.
There will also be limited edition Blink-182 merchandise, including numbered vinyl records of the band’s songs “The Rock Show” and “First Date.” And there will be a Blink-182 version of the “Pac-Man x 7-Eleven” T-shirt, which the band’s bassist and singer, Mark Hoppus, wore at Blink-182’s reunion show at the 2023 Coachella festival in Indio.
Unlike Hoppus and blink’s other two members, guitarist-singer Tom DeLonge and drummer Travis Barker, Pearl Jam co-founder Mike McCready is scheduled to be on hand at Comic-Con.
His book, “Mike McCready’s Farewell to Seasons,” which is being published by Z2, was co-written with Mark Sable and illustrated by Sebastián Piriz. It follows the arcs of three interconnected characters in the Seattle music scene from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, and has supernatural elements. Since the book’s publication isn’t until October, Comic-Con will offer an exclusive sneak preview.
McCready, Sable, Piriz and others will take part in a one-hour Comic-Con panel discussion,“Farewell to Seasons: Mike McCready’s Alternative History of Grunge,” at 12:30 p.m. July 23 in the Indigo Ballroom at Hilton San Diego Bayfront.
“It’s a story I’ve been developing for many years, inspired by the creativity, community and chaos of the Seattle music scene,” McCready said in a press release.
” ‘Farewell to Seasons’ is a historical fantasy set in that world, and alongside the graphic novel there will also be a ‘lost’ rock opera connected to the story, featuring original music written from the perspective of David Williams, one of the main characters. I’ve had a great time bringing this project to life with Z2, and I hope people enjoy the journey as much as I did creating it.”
The deluxe edition of the book will include a vinyl album of McCready’s rock opera. Pearl Jam’s only scheduled concert so far this year will take place Sept 27 in Dana Point at the Ohana Festival, which was launched in 2016 by the band’s lead singer, former San Diegan Eddie Vedder. It will be the first show to feature Pearl Jam’s new (and as yet unnamed) drummer. He or she will replace San Diego native Matt Cameron, who last year announced his departure from Pearl Jam after 27 years.
There are no scheduled concerts by Blink-182 this year, but the band has announced it will perform in six European cities next June.
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