The Official Blink 182 Thread

On Tuesday night, during Blink-182's show at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Travis Barker finally unveiled the full version of his much-hyped, gravity-defying, head-spinning drum solo.

Needless to say, it was pretty epic. And worth the wait.

A week earlier, during a "friends only" warm-up gig at the Forum in Los Angeles, Barker had done the routine — which features his drum riser levitating, swinging from side-to-side and turning upside down — and shaky camera-phone footage of the stunt quickly began to make the rounds. Barker did a stripped-down version of the solo during Blink's first two shows in Las Vegas, as the venue was too small for the full routine. So, finally, on Tuesday, with some 15,000 Blink fans cheering him on, in a spot big enough to support his rigging, Barker gave the public what they were clamoring for: a three-minute, 360-degree drum clinic. Footage of the solo, which seems reminiscent of Tommy Lee's aerial drums solos in Mötley Crüe's heyday, has already flooded YouTube.

When MTV News was out in Vegas for the kickoff of the Blink tour, we asked Barker about the stunt. Turns out, he just sort of winged it. After all, he's been doing it for years.

"[The idea] happened like a month ago. Someone brought it up, like, 'What are you doing for the drum solo, Trav?' And I was like, 'Uh-oh.' But I was up for the challenge," Barker laughed. "The first [time I did a solo on tour], I was on fire, and the kit was rotating. The second time, I went upside down — and upside down is kind of the gnarliest thing you can do. So then, this one was like, 'How can you make me even more uncomfortable, or sideways, or fly me in the air?' So, I kind of just let [the stage techs] do their thing, and I go up there and play my drums."

"It's like Travis set a precedent for himself that he has to up the ante every single time," Blink bassist Mark Hoppus added. "He did it to himself."

And while the drum solo is undoubtedly one of the highlights of Blink's set, it wasn't the only anti-gravity act the band was planning. "I'll be honest with you, the drum solo wasn't even the first idea," guitarist Tom DeLonge said. "Remember the vocal solos we were gonna do, on that same rig?"

"Yeah, we were gonna spin around, go upside down, and just do scales, vocally," Hoppus answered, before breaking into a vocal warm-up. "You know, just strap in and sing."

Of course, Barker had to one-up them. And in the end, it seems like they all made the right choice.

I have to be honest, I wasn't the biggest Blink-182 fan growing up. Sure they were a huge part of the pop culture bang -- "TRL," summer concerts, naked running -- so I knew who they were, and I could definitely recognize their songs. But a Sharpie sign-makin', blue hair-dyin', mosh-pitting fan I was not.

Then I met Mark Hoppus. Then I lied to him about loving his music. Then I actually started to like it. Weird, right? It might be just a mad cow-style spell of adorable he put on me, who knows. Who cares!

I got the chance to cozy up to Blink's front-man and bassist at the SIRIUS radio studio this week. We dove headfirst into his thoughts on all things pop, his work with "Gossip Girl's" Leighton Meester, his first run in with the now shattered Destiny's Child and why Blink-182 actually called it quits (it's goooood).

As for the non-music topics, I found out why the NOH8 Campaign was so important to him, why he chose to join the IMA Awards judging panel and why he's such a competitive parent.

If you are a Blink fan, there are some seriously yummy deets about their new CD in the video too. But if you're not interested in all those small things, try to avoid getting caught up in the shimmering headlights of the Hoppus Express. So peel that morning grapefruit, take your daily vitamin and press play on the video below.

Twitter-based Scavenger Hunt for Over $500 in Prizes from State Farm and the Blink 182 Summer Tour!
Tweet-A-Prize! and Blink 182 Summer Tour Sponsor, State Farm, have teamed up to give away $500 in Blink 182 T-Shirts, Autographed CDs, iTunes GiftCards, and TicketMaster GiftCards! Have you won yours yet?

08.27.2009 – Tweet-A-Prize! is the fun new Twitter-based contest that sends its players on an exciting scavenger-hunt across the web. If you follow your clues and use them to answer prize questions correctly, you'll have a shot at winning a BIG prize almost every day!

This week Tweet-A-Prize! and Blink 182 Summer Tour Sponsor, State Farm, have teamed up to give away $500 in Blink 182 T-Shirts, Autographed CDs, iTunes GiftCards, and TicketMaster GiftCards! Have you won yours yet?

State Farm insures more cars and homes than any other insurer in the U.S., is the leading insurer of watercraft and is also a leading insurer in Canada. State Farm's 17,700 agents and 68,600 employees serve, 81 million policies and accounts. And now, State Farm is sponsoring Blink 182's first tour in five years! On top of the great Blink 182 Tour prizes at Tweet-A-Prize this week, State Farm is also giving you the chance to win Travis Barker's 1966 Cadillac Coupe De Ville! Don't miss this awesome tour and these great prizes.

Are you ready to have a blast winning prizes every week, including the $500+ in Blink 182 tour merchandise, iTunes giftcards, and TicketMaster giftcards? Then head on over to tweetaprize.com, and start playing!

Tweet-A-Prize! has already given away over 100 prizes, including humanoid robots, movies, music, video game systems, TONS of giftcards, health food, collectible statues, MP3 players, designer clothing, and more --- all on Twitter! What will YOU win?

Tom DeLonge thought Blink-182 had hit the big time five years ago.

"Literally on our last tour, 12,000 was the biggest shows we were doing," says the singer/guitarist, who adds that he was not at all dissatisfied with those numbers. "But it was really an average of 6-to-8,000 people a night. This tour, we're selling 20-to-30,000 tickets within hours, sold out, like crazy ... I have no clue what's going on."

Whatever's happening, DeLonge isn't complaining at all.

"We're so lucky," he says. "It's just like you dream of playing music. You don't ever dream of getting big, and you'll never even contemplate the idea of having it be this big."

For several years, DeLonge wasn't contemplating a world where Blink-182 would ever be part of his life again.

Up until 2004, things had gone very well for the pop-punk trio. The group sold 20 million albums, as albums like Enema of the State (1999), Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001) and Blink-182 (2003) became hits that included popular singles like "What's My Age Again?," "I Miss You," "Feeling This" and "The Rock Show."

But while touring behind the self-titled album, tensions mounted.

DeLonge wanted to spend more time at home with his wife and baby daughter, and that meant turning down a proposed 2005 U.S. tour and being less willing to leave home to work on future albums. DeLonge says bassist/singer Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker thought he was attempting to dictate when the group toured and recorded.

"They thought I was trying to control how and when and whatever," DeLonge says. "But that's not where I was coming from. Now it's like everyone understands that."

That understanding might never have been reached, though, had it not been for a tragedy.

After the Blink breakup, Hoppus and Barker formed a new band, +44, which released one album. DeLonge, meanwhile, started Angels & Airwaves, which has released two albums to date. (DeLonge says a third, as well as a companion movie, will be released in early 2010.)

Things were rolling along smoothly until Sept. 20, 2008, when Barker was seriously injured in a plane crash in Columbia, S.C., that killed four other passengers. Upon hearing the news, DeLonge reached out to Barker, expressing his concern and offering his support, and this started a gradual process of all three Blink-182 members reconnecting.

"Honestly, that was the reason why we got back," says DeLonge, noting that until that point, each of the band members had harbored unresolved issues. "Then the plane crash happened, and all of that was put in perspective, and we all kind of realized how stupid all of it was. We literally got over it in a matter of days."

Now Blink-182 is on tour. Hoppus says fans can expect to hear the hits and experience the usual zaniness from the band.

"One of the charms of Blink in the past is we never used to rehearse what we wanted to do," DeLonge says. "But this time we're really putting in a lot of effort. We're spending a lot of time trying to give them the biggest and most crazy rock show that people want to see. But at the same time, we have a tendency to keep it very impromptu in spirit and unpredictable."

Well, Travis Barker is in the air again; this time in his new drum set that flies gyrates and moves in different directions. Ironic in many ways since he came so close to death in 2008 during a plane crash.

DRUM! Magazine features Barker on the cover of its October issue and he discusses all of the above. Read on to find out more about Travis Barker, his reunion with Blink 182 and his flying antics.

Travis Barker is receiving rave reviews for his new "fly" drum kit, which MTV described in a July 29 report as "gravity-defying and head-spinning."

DRUM! Magazine, one of Enter Music Publishing's hip, drum/percussion magazines, however, had the scoop when DRUM! contributing photographer, Robert Downs, was invited to the Forum in Los Angeles on July 21 for a pre-drum premiere of Barker's new kit, which flies the friendly skies with ease. And then some.

"I had no idea what Travis was up to," says Downs. "Then as I got a closer look at the riser to take photos, I was amazed." Downs, who is no stranger to Barker, has photographed him three times before and his current shots will be used for the upcoming DRUM! cover story on Barker for the October issue, out September 14.

Editor Andrew Lentz, who interviewed Barker for his fourth DRUM! cover says, "It's a lot more sophisticated than other flying drum kits. It's capable of acrobatics." As for the story itself, Lentz promises you'll see some new sides of Travis Barker. "He's amazingly resilient as a drummer. Despite the crash, the health problems and the drama, he is just very focused as a drummer," Lentz adds.

DRUM!, in fact, has published excerpts from the cover story and more up-to-date info on Travis that had not occurred at press time, such as the untimely deaf of DJ AM. This editorial can be read at http://www.drummagazine.com/features/po ... k-preview/.

"We've really tried to portray Barker's personal resilience since the crash as well as his innovative approach to punk drumming," says Phil Hood, publisher and one of the founders of Enter Music Publishing. "And the website feature gives us the opportunity to provide the reader with more current compelling info regarding Travis and the tour."

About Enter Music Publishing Founded in San Jose, CA in 1992, Enter Music Publishing, Inc. is a leading publisher of hip, drum/percussion magazines, with distribution in 40 countries. DRUM! is the flagship publication of Enter Music Publishing, Inc. and continues to set the industry standard for editorial quality and innovation. Additional information about the company can be found at www.drummagazine.com.