Las Vegas Weekly

March 12, 2010 · 1:50 PM

Travis Barker kicks off North American tour tonight at Pure

By Robin Leach

Travis Barker of Blink-182 performs at The Joint in The Hard Rock Hotel.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Tonight marks the start of Travis Barker’s new North American tour with his premiere performance at Pure in Caesars Palace. Travis is teamed up with Kanye West’s former DJ A-Trak, who replaces the late DJ AM (Adam Goldstein), who died of a drug overdose in New York last Aug. 28.

Travis and Adam had escaped from a fatal and fiery plane crash while on tour in September 2008. Both were badly burned and hospitalized. DJ AM became the resident turntable titan at the Palms once he’d recovered. But after his tragic death, nearly a year after surviving the crash, the Palms headliner role went to DJ Z-Trip.

Travis unveiled a new DJ AM tattoo tribute this week on his left thigh. It has the words “In memory of” floating above the late deejay’s logo and a weeping and praying angel. Travis said it will be on view when A-Trak and he perform tonight.

Photo: Pure Management Group

Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler at Pure.

Financial settlements were reached this past week with the families of the passengers killed on the jet and with Travis, who has said he is unable to do many things since the burns and injuries, including never being able to swim again.

While rehearsing for the show at the Roxy in Hollywood this week, Travis and A-Trak talked with MTV News: “I think the show is really, like, a concert performance. It’s a spectacle,” A-Trak said. “It's, like, really condensed and in your face, and I think that every minute, every moment is like a slap in the face. That's how I described it.”

“There’s something for all music fans. If you’re a fan of music, you’ll dig it,” Travis told MTV. “And then if you’re a fan of A-Trak and all his music or you’re a fan of me and you wanna see us just mash, then I think you’ll be stoked to see it.”

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

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Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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