Across the world tonight, people will observe the start of the New Year at one-off concerts and special club events. But for performers Travis Barker and DJ AM (Adam Goldstein), tonight’s musical celebration of fresh beginnings and change will be special for another reason.
The former Blink-182 drummer and the celebrity disk jockey will perform together in concert for the first time since surviving a fatal plane crash that claimed the lives of four people. Barker and Goldstein will hit the stage at The Wiltern in Los Angeles for a concert hosted by New Year’s Nation.
The performance will be broadcast through a closed-circuit connection to nine additional New Year’s Nation parties across the country: Atlanta, GA; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Las Vegas, NV; Minneapolis, MN; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; and Portland, OR.
The two performers suffered serious burns in a September 19 Learjet crash that killed two of Barker’s close friends, as well as the jet’s pilot and co-pilot. The men were released from the hospital in the following weeks after undergoing multiple surgeries and procedures, and are expected to make a complete recovery with rehabilitation.
According to statements from the National Transportation Safety Board, crew members aboard the plane thought a tire had blown out and tried to abort takeoff. Both Barker and Goldstein have filed lawsuits since the crash claiming loss of earnings, pain and suffering. Some published reports incorrectly claimed that Goldstein had named the deceased pilots’ estates as defendants.
“I am more than grateful that I survived this horrible accident and I’d never try to take anything from those that didn’t. Despite the misinterpretations of the lawsuit, this suit is against the insurance companies that insured the pilots,” Goldstein said in a recent statement to the press. “Everyone involved in this suit has suffered a great deal, and I would not do anything to make matters worse for the deceased family and friends.”
